Head's Newsletter 23 November 2017

opportunity to show the links between the two theories and how each supports the other. The day was spent collecting and organising evidence from the different exhibitions on continental drift and Evolution by Natural Selection and the period in which this occurred. By the end of the visit, the students came away with a much deeper understanding of how biological evidence can be used to explain the movement of landmasses by plate tectonic forces and some comprehension of the vastness of deep time. We finished our day back in the lunchroom and were joined by the Director of the museum and ex-Tiffinian, Sir Michael Dixon. He spoke to the students about his experience of Tiffin, and where his career has taken him since he left. The students asked some brilliant questions about Sir Michael’s career, and about exhibits and specimens at the museum. It was another fantastic day, and our students did the school proud. I would like to thank all the staff who accompanied us, and special thanks go to the parents who helped chaperone the trip.

Year 7 undertook their first major expedition last week with our annual visit to London Zoo. Concerns about the weather proved unfounded as we were blessed with a fine day allowing us to fully enjoy the experience. We were able to explore the whole zoo and it was wonderful to see the boys so excited yet so well behaved. They loved the gorillas and penguins but the favourite experience was the feeding of the tigers. In addition to the simple fun of meeting the animals, the boys were able to take notes and speak to zoo staff to help them with their task of evaluating the role of zoos in conservation.

On Wednesday 22 nd November, all 180 students of Year 9, accompanied by the Biology and Geography departments, along with other willing volunteers, visited the Natural History Museum with the aim of investigating BioGeography as a unifying theory of life and Earth. The Year 9s are currently studying Plate Tectonics in Geography and Evolution in Biology, so this trip is the perfect