Research Challenge for Year 9

This academic year, Year 9 pupils have embarked on the ‘Foundation Project Qualification’, a stand-alone qualification designed for learners to practise different research skills that they can apply to future studies and the workplace. The FPQ also provides a taste of the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) that our Year 12 students undertake. The boys have been supervised by Digital Learning Facilitator, Mrs Sally Bayley, who provided the following report:

“The research project qualification has enabled the pupils in Year 9 to develop their skills so that they can produce better quality coursework when they start their GCSEs next year.

“They started the year in groups of four and chose to research the history of Shiplake College. Some groups focused on their boarding houses, whilst others selected different sports and activity clubs. They learnt how to validate their research and interview members of staff. Finally, they created a market day display and presented these in the Great Hall to their parents and staff members.

“In the Spring Term, the boys were split into pairs, and chose a topic from a long list of varied research interests. They then had to present their findings in front of their peers.

“Finally, in the Summer Term, they were ready to work on their own. They were given limited guidance from teachers and chose their own topic to research. They had to find a wide variety of information before starting to write their 1,500 word essay. Then they learnt how to reference their sources and write a formal report. 

“The winning projects varied from Rugby Nutrition, Synthetic Biology to Gambaled Thrust in Rocketry and the Financial Crisis.”