Daily Mail Cup - 1st XV Rugby Quarter Final - Skinners' vs RGS Newcastle

Added on Fri 12th

Skinners' reached the quarter final of the U18 Daily Mail Cup for the first time but were defeated by RGS Newcastle 13-29 on 9 February. A full match report can be found on the link below. We wish RGS Newcastle good luck in the next round.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-1249868/Daily-Mail-RBS-U18-Cup-RGS-Newcastle-power-past-Skinners-make-semi-finals.html

Debating success - teams through to the Oxford and Cambridge Union finals.

Added on Thu 4th

Skinners’ Debating Society are having a very good year so far!  Tom Rutland and Joe Strong made it through to the Oxford Union Finals Day (13 March).  The Oxford Union competition is the biggest in the country and certainly a prestigious accolade.  They are very much looking forward to getting their teeth (metaphorically of course!) into the opposition.  Two new debaters, Year 11s Billy Wildi and James Tribe, surprised us all by winning their initial round for the Cambridge Union in the autumn.  Now they have sailed through the Regional Finals, which were held recently at St. Olave’s, and look ahead to Cambridge’s Finals Day on 25 February.  Despite the rather argumentative nature of many of the debaters, it is a friendly and welcoming society!

Visit to Skinners' by Oxford University Materials Science Department

Added on Wed 3rd

On Tuesday 2 February a team from Oxford University Materials Science Department ran some excellent practical workshops for our Year 12 Physics students.

One group used tensile testing rigs to stretch samples of metals and polymers to destruction. They plotted stress-strain graphs and learned how to use them to make decisions about which materials to use for a particular purpose. In the other group, boys built and tested solar cells, linking their knowledge of atomic excitation from physics with absorption spectra from chemistry.

They learned about the latest research into the development of materials, such as new types of ceramic for turbine blades, and how Boeing have caused the price of carbon fibres to increase several fold as they research the use of carbon reinforced materials for building the next generation of aircraft.

Jayne Shaw and her two PhD students also talked to the boys about applying to Oxford to do Materials Science, and invited them to attend the next Open Day.