ANTS Programme (Advanced and Naturally Talented Students)

The afternoon started very positively with a shared lunch provided by the school followed by presentations from Hayden McNulty, Tim Curry and Kit Sadler. These Year 13 students spent a week of their summer holidays at their chosen universities, taking part in the Hands on Programme. This programme is aimed at allowing students to experience what it is like to study at university.

Following this, we were challenged not only physically, but our engineering skills were also put to the test. The task was to build a catapult using only Popsicle sticks and rubber bands which would fire a single marshmallow as far as possible. Combining Junior and Senior minds was a winning combination as we had different input from both age groups.

Then there was a competitive orienteering game which involved Juniors and Seniors working together to answer a variety of questions, while running around madly, trying to complete the challenge in the shortest possible time. The questions ranged from school history to the colour of local street signs. After much blood, sweat and tears, (but mainly sweat!) we jumped straight into the next task.

To finish the afternoon, students were given a short fictional story and had to identify and solve problems based around the plot. Again, teamwork was key to completing this challenge.

The POWER values were put to very good use in all challenges. All in all, this was a very successful afternoon which involved a lot of laughter, collaboration and bonding between Junior and Senior students. A big thank you to all staff involved in organising this great event!