Work has started on an exciting expansion to the STEM facilities at King Edward’s School, Bath to increase the number of Science labs in the Senior School.
Upon completion of the work to build three new labs and refurbish two existing labs, the Senior School will be equipped with 12 state-of-the-art labs, four for each of the Sciences. Each lab will be furnished with bespoke equipment to support practical and theoretical learning. The School is also taking the opportunity that the work affords to implement the School’s new IT strategy throughout the whole of its Science provision, which will see the roll-out of, amongst other items, the latest interactive screens.
The total scheme of work, which includes the refurbishment of a suite of Maths classrooms, represents an investment of £1m by King Edward’s and reflects the strength and popularity of STEM subjects at KES, which are among the most popular choices at A Level, with around 30% of Sixth Form pupils studying two Sciences, and all pupils in Years 7-11 undertaking all three Sciences.
With a refreshed and extended setting, the School aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and to support the ambitions of pupils choosing to continue their STEM studies after school. Many of its recent leavers have elected to study a wide range of science-based subjects at university, from Medicine and Biomedical Science to Natural Sciences, and Physics to Veterinary Medicine and Mechanical Engineering.
The extended Science provision will also enhance the School’s ambitious co-curricular programme which, amongst other activities, includes participation in Olympiads or Masterclasses hosted by the UK’s equivalent of CERN, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories in Oxford.
The work to extend and refurbish the STEM setting began at Half-Term and it is planned that the new facilities will be ready for the start of the Autumn Term.
Separate to the Senior School, King Edward’s Junior School also has its own, dedicated Science lab for use by its pupils in Years 3-6.