Fifty-two Year 10, 11 and Sixth Form students visited the National Museum of Computing last Friday, home to the world's largest collection of working historic computers.  Students got to follow the development of computing: from the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus of the 1940s through the large systems and mainframes of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, to the rise of personal computing and the rise of mobile computing and the internet.

Year 12 student, Jess said "The Piggott School trip to The National Museum of Computing was a very interesting and educational experience. We were able to see the rebuilt Colossus computer and the WITCH (the world's oldest working digital computer) among many other pieces of technology.

As well as this, we took part in a fun programming workshop where we used a BBC micro-machine to program a game of snake. I enjoyed writing code in a different language using a type of computer that I hadn't used before.

I also thought that the 'Power of Primes' activity was amazing as it highlighted the importance that prime numbers play in cryptography, and it briefly taught us about the other maths involved in creating ciphers.

Overall I thought that the trip was great and the tour guides were very informative."

Other students said the highlights of the trip were:

"Experiencing the minds of computer scientists from the past."

"Programming a snake game with BBC basic."

"Learning about the history behind the enigma machines."

Over 500 students from Years 7 – 10 and 12 - 13 took part in the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge last November for a chance to make it through to the Oxford University Computing Challenge (OUCC), a prestigious event in computational thinking. 

Of that number, 78 Piggott students scored in the top 10% nationally, automatically giving them a place in Oxford University’s ‘invitation-only’ event.

We had 3 students selected from Year 10 & Year 12, 12 students from Year 9, 18 students from Year 8 and a record number of 42 students from Year 7. 

The first round of the annual OUCC challenge is held online in schools and supervised by teachers with participants' solutions auto-marked by the OUCC system.

Following this, the top 20 students in each age group are invited to Oxford University to compete in the final. 

This is our third year participating in the challenge. Last year, Piggott twins Finlay and Oliver (Year 9) remarkably achieved a top 20 place after competing against 3,875 students nationwide in the Year 8 & 9 age OUCC category. 

In 2020, finalist Matthew Sullivan (Year 12 at the time) won the chance to spend the day at Oxford University attending seminars, a prize that inspired him to go on to study at Oxford University.

The OUCC is an invitation-only event which aims to encourage students to develop their skills further and produce programmed solutions to computational thinking problems.

Just before the end of Term 1, students received their certificates.  Take a look at the photos here:

Students and their families are usually invited to witness the presentation of A-Level and Level 3 certificates. Unfortunately, in light of the circumstances, we have been unable to hold this presentation evening and would like to invite students to collect their certificates from main reception during the school day. 

On Wednesday 24th November, the Wokingham based charity Soulscape delivered a PSHE workshop to the Year 10 pupils. Soulscape partners with schools in Wokingham and Bracknell to help deliver effective RE and PSHE lessons, and to create a space where pupils can talk about sensitive issues. Soulscape partnered with sixth form pupils from READ College, Reading to deliver their OBJECT Workshop which explored issues around pornography, relationships and self-image.

They delivered a brilliantly choreographed, honest and thought-provoking 20-minute theatre presentation followed by a 25-minute small group discussion, led by the sixth form performers.

It was an excellent opportunity for the pupils to engage with a sensitive topic and to explore follow-up questions with leaders closer in age. The feedback from Year 10 was extremely positive, with most finding the session very helpful, educational and relatable. They appreciated the open environment, honest conversation and theatre performance that highlighted the impact of pornography on relationships in young people.

If you're heading out to by your Christmas tree, local Sheeplands plant nursery, cafe and farm shop is supporting the PTAs of local schools this Christmas.  

In RE this term, the Year 7’s are studying Creation Myths; exploring origin stories from around the world, from the Biblical account of Genesis, the Hindu account of Brahman to the Australian Aboriginal myth. We believe a diverse, cross-cultural and thought-provoking curriculum is the most effective for developing holistic, well-rounded students.

Whilst studying the Aboriginal creation myth, students delved into the spiritual and mystical significance of Aboriginal music and artwork. The students showed incredible enthusiasm for this topic, so their homework task was to produce Aboriginal artwork to represent elements of the Dreamtime creation story we read through in lesson.

We were extremely impressed with the level of effort, creativity and interpretation that the students portrayed. You can find more examples of their work here: https://www.piggottschool.org/year7

Last week, The Piggott School community rallied together to donate food for those in need and in doing so they collected 30 crates of food and other useful items. 

“We are incredibly proud of how the Piggott school community responded to our food collection last week. With the help of the prefect team and the generosity of Piggott families, we filled 30 very large crates with food and other useful items for our friends at ReadiFood. Thank you to all who contributed. Each contribution, big or small makes a difference.”

Miss Marris

Did you know that more than 3.5 million women and girls are now playing football across England? If you're one of them, and you love playing football but are thinking about giving it up to study your A-Levels in 2022-2023, think again.  

The Piggott School offers female footballers the perfect opportunity to combine their A-Level studies in an outstanding academic environment with professional football coaching and competitive matches.

The programme will provide players with the skill to be able to develop their performance and understanding of the game. Training sessions will fit around the girls' academic lessons, allowing pupils flexibility to study up to 3 A-Level or Vocational qualifications alongside their training. 

Players will be expected to train up to 4 hours a week and represent the Academy team.

We are realistic in our view that very few students will become professional footballers and therefore we focus on providing our students with the experience, values and qualifications that will offer them a broader choice and pathway in the sports industry when they graduate.

INFORMATION SESSION

Join our information session on 23rd November at 6:30-7:15pm at The Piggott School to find out more about this exceptional course delivered in partnership with the Chelsea Football Club Foundation.

SIGN UP FOR THE INFORMATION SESSION 

Watch our video here to find out more about the programme:

Just under 130 students joined our Sixth Form from other schools in 2021. We asked some students why they chose to come to The Piggott School for their A-Level or Vocational qualifications. Find out what they had to say about the Sixth Form.

WHAT STUDENTS THINK