By Isabel H, Year 10 Journalist Leader

On Friday 8th March, four year 10 physicists travelled to St Helen’s School (accompanied by Ms Motyer) to partake in an invigorating physics tournament. 

The morning started with an Experiment Challenge; in this round participants worked resolutely in their teams of four to produce a methodology for, conduct a practical, and write up their results. Lucia, from the NHEHS team, recalled ‘I really enjoyed how the experiment tested our knowledge in both maths and physics while also allowing us to widen our understanding effectively through teamwork. We found it quite challenging to rearrange the equation needed to work out the final answer; however, it was fun to figure it out together.’

Closely followed by the Experiment Challenge was the more daunting Escape Room. Now, this wasn’t exactly the sort of escape room where you are locked in a bunker, nevertheless the clues provided and questions we tackled under time conditions certainly gave it that stressful element associated with escape rooms! Our team work throughout this challenge resulted in an outstanding time of 11.25 which won us second place in the round. Daisy, another one of the team, recalled “it was very fun and I am very proud of our ability to work off each other’s ideas. We also came second in this challenge which I am very proud of.”

However, our success was somewhat short lived as we soon came to face the Calculations Contest… This particular round involved answering as many of 10 physics related questions as possible in 10 minutes, whilst running back and forth to a teacher to get our answers checked. Chaotic or what! Slightly intimidated by the competition in the air we were slightly put off our game and became inclined to making silly mistakes. Having said this a respectable 7 questions were answered. Let’s just say we will all be revising unit conversions!

And last but not least, a motivational careers talk by an old girl of St Helen’s was presented. Her insight on the field of engineering, driven by a love of physics was fascinating. The idea that ‘nothing is set in stone’ was an inspiring statement left with us at the end. Overall, the Physics Tournament was a very fun day that allowed us to enjoy physics beyond the science block! Thank you very much to Ms Motyer for making this opportunity a possibility for us and giving us her support on the day.