The summer term has been going well, with plenty of work to keep our students busy. Take a look at what’s going on at ICLMS this term.
Research Project Presentation Day
Our Research Project Presentation Day happened at the end of the spring term, and we have recently published a gallery of photographs from the day, which can be found here. Imperial also published their own write-up of the day, which can be viewed here.
Exams
Students had their summer exams at the start of May, which they spent a great deal of the term break preparing and studying for. Students worked incredibly hard in the lead-up to exams and there were some excellent results.
Outreach
Physics Mondays
This term, we started a new outreach programme: Physics Mondays. This is research-based course for year 9 students, which runs after school on Mondays at ICLMS and focuses on practical astronomy and physics research. Physics Mondays covers material beyond GCSE physics and mathematics, allows students a glimpse of what goes into being a researcher, and shows them their potential as scientists. This practical work that students put in throughout the summer term will help them when the course continues in the autumn term, when we will be partnering with Orbyts, a multi-award-winning movement that partners scientists with schools to empower school students to undertake world-leading research.
Axiom Maths
We are proud to continue to partner with Axiom Maths to deliver Maths Circles at ICLMS, both online and in-person. Year 7-9 students are mentored by undergraduates from Imperial College London in problem-solving and mathematical reasoning. These sessions give students a chance to experience collaborative working; bouncing ideas off one another and working together to solve problems.
Maths Extra
In the second half of the summer term, we will be restarting a successful outreach programme that we ran throughout the autumn and spring terms; Maths Extra. This programme is aimed at Year 10 students who are enthusiastic about maths. The sessions cover topics in AQA level 2 Further Maths and are designed to extend students' understanding of GCSE mathematics and mathematical problem solving. By taking part in Maths Extra, we hope that students will be set up for success in their GCSEs, and gain the skills necessary to make a flying start to A Level Maths and/or Further Maths.
Mathematical Olympiad for Girls Masterclasses
We are starting up a new outreach programme in the second half of the summer will prepare students to sit the Mathematical Olympiad for Girls (MOG). Teachers will be able to nominate suitable students for this opportunity. We will provide the students with an environment where they can prepare for the MOG with the help of enthusiastic teachers and high-attainers like themselves.
To learn more about any of our outreach opportunities or to express interest in them, email outreach@imperialmathsschool.ac.uk, or visit outreach page.
School life
At the start of the summer term, we welcomed as Claire Rebello, our new Head of Maths. Claire’s previous teaching experience includes six years at King’s College London Mathematics School, where she coordinated the statistics curriculum and led the school’s gender equality strategy, and more recently, the role of Head of Higher Education at St Albans High School for Girls.
In the middle of term, we celebrated culture day. As part of culture day, students were encouraged to dress up and bring in cultural food. We had a delicious selection from around the world, which we enjoyed during a whole school assembly. The assembly was an opportunity for students to be presented with awards for their supercurricular achievements, such as the Chemistry Olympiad.
Our students also had the opportunity to visit Friern Barnet School, where they talked to the Year 11 students there about study tips, A levels, and what life is like at ICLMS. The advice they offered was insightful and they represented ICLMS wonderfully.
We have sent offers to students who will form our next cohort of students. Congratulations to those who received offers! We also have our Summer Series events for offer holders coming up, which will give a taste of what life is like at ICLMS.
Looking onward
The second half of the summer term is going to be a good one, with plenty of university open days and the start of preparation university applications, work experience, club activities, and lessons to keep our students busy. We’ll be visiting Warwick and Cambridge universities, and the Mechanical Engineering and Physics departments at Imperial, and we will welcome PhD students from the maths department at Imperial to ICLMS to deliver guest lectures to our students. We have launched masterclasses with our students where students experience university-style learning and content outside the A level curriculum. This term students had a choice of Limits, Graphs and Algorithms, and Frames of Reference and Special Relativity. There will also be opportunities for our offer-holders to come and get an idea of what life is like at ICLMS with our various Summer Series events. Keep an eye on our social media and website for updates as the term progresses!