Year 9 Ski Trip


Geology Department News


I must report on what was another very successful and enjoyable Year 9 ski trip, which took place at half term. It was our second year in Bardonnecchia, Italy. Everything we needed was within walking distance of the hotel, and the food was plentiful – the biscuits served at breakfast seemed particularly popular. Conditions for skiing were pretty good, with decent coverage on the mountain after a snowfall on the day we arrived. The weather was excellent – if anything, too warm in the afternoons, but at least we had the chance to top up our tans!


I am always impressed with the speed with which our boys pick up the skills they need – but this year’s lot really surpassed my wildest dreams. One beginner group was onto the main slopes by the end of the first day, which I can’t remember happening before, and all the groups were on the main runs by day 3. We did have a few more injuries than usual, but I was most impressed with the staying power of most of the boys. They played their part in making it a very successful and enjoyable trip.


I must thanks my colleagues who supported the trip so well. We had three staff who were new to the Year 9 experience – Mrs Benneton, Mr Byrnes and Miss Neill – and the latter two were new to skiing as well. My thanks also to Mrs Chipping, Mr Hay, Mr Syms, Mr Jackaman and Mr Bichard.


AJB


In late February, Year 13 Geologists were fortunate to be invited to visit Oil Spill Response Limited in Southampton. This followed on nicely from our earlier visit to Wytch Farm Oil Field on the Isle of Purbeck.


OSRL is a global company and is funded by the petroleum industry to deal with the clean-up of major oil spills. There were involved in the clean-up operation following the Deepwater


Horizon disaster. Southampton is one of OSRLs five key international bases and has equipment and personnel ready to deploy within a few hours’ notice.


We had a very interesting talk on the way in which oil behaves in the natural e n vironmen t and followed this with a tour of the base to see the different t e chnologie s used, such as oil skimmers, booms and millions of pounds worth of dispersant ready to be loaded onto the company jet. It was a fascinating visit and it felt very much like we’d been to a real life Thunderbirds base.


DTS


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