The Science Department
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In the summer of 2006, the Science Department at Summer Fields underwent an extensive makeover. Both labs were redesigned to give more space for practical work and to upgrade the already extensive facilities. The adjoining preparation room and offices were also brought up to date giving the entire department an exciting and fresh feel for the beginning of the 2006/7 academic year.
Science at Summer Fields is taught with the use of state of the art technologies and equipment. These include interactive white boards, data-logging software and computer simulations. But at the heart of the teaching within the department is an old fashion belief in learning through practical work and experiments. Indeed, in the first three years of the six-year course, the teaching is entirely based upon establishing solid practical and observational skills. The aim is for the children to learn through testing and discovering scientific phenomena for themselves.
In their final three years at Summer Fields, the course focuses on the Common Entrance syllabus and makes sure they have a fundamental grasp of all the topic areas required. The course is split into the three core sciences: chemistry, physics and biology, and a topic from each of these areas is covered each term. Practical work is again encouraged in all areas of the syllabus, and it is extremely rare for a week to pass without every boy in the last three years engaging in an investigation or experiment of some kind.
The aim of the science course at Summer Fields is to foster enthusiasm and curiosity for the world around them, and the materials and natural laws they encounter in it.