A group of Year 13 maths and science students had the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Switzerland in early December to visit the CERN facility close to Geneva.
During the visit on 7-10 December, the students were inspired by the visit to CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider. Students discovered how CERN is helping to answer some of the most fundamental questions such as ‘how did the Universe begin?’ and ‘what are the basic building blocks of matter?’.
Scientific breakthroughs such as the discovery of the Higgs boson require experimental machines on the large scale, and the students gained an appreciation of the technical and engineering challenges that the multinational experimental collaborations at CERN face.
The trip was a chance to take in some of the other sights of Geneva, and during a packed programme of activities, the ELA group started their weekend with a visit to the United Nations, the Botanical Gardens and the History of Science Museum.
After visiting the CERN facility on the Saturday, students had free time to explore the city. On Sunday, they headed out to the Natural History Museum, the Christmas markets, as well as taking a boat trip. Finally, the students visited the Plasma Centre in picturesque Lausanne before heading back to the UK.
Enrichment trips form an important part of our Sixth Form provision, enabling students to enhance their studies, experience other cultures and develop life skills.