ROSE NEW, ACADEMIC SCHOLARS CO-ORDINATOR

In Tuesday’s meeting we had three very different talks from Year 9 scholars.

Izzy M spoke about the one of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2024, which she attended. The speaker was Dr Chris van Tulleken, familiar to many of us, along with his twin brother Dr Xand, from the children's series Operation Ouch! and the subject of his lecture was ‘We are what we eat’. Izzy shared some fascinating information, including research which shows young children, given a free choice, will eat what they need for optimum nutrition.

Flo H spoke about ‘The Science of the Pointe Shoe’, explaining the technical aspects of how pointe shoes are constructed and customised to the needs of individual dancers. She went on to tell us how young dancers prepare to dance en pointe, and some of the challenges involved.

Rachel F spoke on ‘Becoming a Bat Mitzvah’, detailing the process and the meaning behind it. She explained how she chose a portion from Genesis to read, about Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, and talked about the challenges of learning Hebrew, a language with no written vowels.