For activities week, a handful of lucky year 9 pupils travelled to Geneva for an exciting few days spent visiting the CERN facility; one of the world’s largest centres for scientific research.

Pupils attended a lecture from a physicist at CERN who has been working there since 1971. He recounted the history of CERN, what it is and what they do now, which was very informative. They then travelled to the French location which was the main control centre for the LHC (large Hadron Collider) where all of the experiments are monitored and controlled. The last step of the journey was a visit to the CMS – an enormous machine for measuring the various collisions that happen in the LHC. Pupils and staff we had to travel 100m underground to see where the machine was in operation and the massive data system they use to process the amount of information it creates.

The next morning, they visited the History of Science Museum; this chronicled the various different scientific instruments invented since the telescope, with many different practical exhibits for the pupils to touch and use. In the afternoon they went to the UN building at the Palace of Nations, where they were given a guided tour of the buildings and conference rooms, as well as seeing the gardens and the location of the creation of the first League of Nations. They also caught a river taxi to see Geneva old town, played games in the park and enjoyed a delicious burger!

This was truly a once in a lifetime experience to everyone who attended the trip – many thanks to Mr Teague for organising such a fantastic experience!