During Half Term, our Physics Teachers, Mrs Ashman and Miss Wilson travelled to Geneva to attend a conference at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, where Physicists and Engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments to study particles. Next year, students will be visiting the laboratory for themselves.

Founded in 1954, the CERN laboratory sits astride the Franco-Swiss border. It houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest machine in the world and the world's most powerful particle accelerator, consisting of a 27-kilometre ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of the particles along the way. It took thousands of Scientists, Engineers and Technicians decades to plan and build the LHC and it continues to operate at the very boundaries of scientific knowledge.

"CERN is simply astonishing", Mrs Ashman said on her return. "It offers the ultimate educational experience for young scientists and our students are really excited at the thought of visiting Geneva and debating nuclear physics in an environment which is home to the top Scientists in the world."

Mrs Ashman is planning a three day trip to Geneva next year, which will include a visit to CERN and a variety of organised tours in Geneva itself.