Biology
About the Department
We have discovered the secret of life!
Francis Crick's words in 1952 as he and his co-worker James Watson burst into the Spreadeagle pub in Cambridge having unraveled the structure of DNA, still hold true 50 years later.
DNA is the chemical basis of life, and in the Biology Department we are engaged in exploring all the extraordinary phenomena that this one peculiar molecule has produced. In our three labs are housed living creatures, preserved specimens, information on any biological topic you choose to mention and a whole battery of the chemicals of life. All of these are used to discuss, demonstrate, and experiment with the fascinating living world of which we are a part.
From fungi as big as tower blocks to microbes barely visible with the electron microscope, from fossils to genetic engineering, from axolotls to zebras, we try to find answers to how living things work, why they do the often extraordinary things they do, and how we, as the most technically advanced species on earth, can try to preserve the brilliant and complex diversity around us.
We believe that Biology has something of interest for anyone, and our overriding aim as a department is to give every pupil the chance to find this out for themselves.
Teaching and Learning
For Fourth and Fifth Formers from September 2007 we offer IGCSE Biology (OCR) at Higher and Foundation level. In the Sixth Form, the options are AS Biology (Edexcel) as a stand-alone course for Lower or Upper Sixth, or AS leading to A2 Biology in the Upper Sixth.
Activities
Lower school pupils have a chance to help look after the departmental animal collection in the Animal Club. In addition, the Biology Film Society offers pupils from all year groups the opportunity to explore aspects of Biology in a broader sense. Presentations take place in an informal atmosphere (often enhanced by home baking) with the opportunity to discuss the topics covered by the films. David Attenborough features heavily with discussions on the recent BBC TV series' The Blue Planet, The Life of Mammals and the incredible Planet Earth.
What pupils say "Don't trust the axolotls" "Is that snake poisonous?" "Where are the doughnuts?" "Biology is cool!"
Staff
Head of Department - James Torrance
An ecologist by training with a taste for snakes, stick insects and other curious creatures whose mission in life is to persuade pupils that plants are not boring, sewage treatment and mineral cycles are cool, and that scientists can be creative too.
Pet likes: Experiments that work, axolotis, learning things from pupils
Pet dislikes: Scientific junk mail, badly designed computer programmes, locusts
Biggest ambition: Pupils who think for themselves
Michael Topping
I grew up on a diet of David Attenborough and 'Wildlife on One'. I am obsessed with behavioural ecology, particularly related to mating systems of mammals, and would love to see more animal behaviour/behavioural ecology in the school curriculum. My teaching goal is for pupils to gain an understanding of and a love for Biology.
Likes: Enthusiastic pupils, woodrats, bears, coyotes, guitars and colourful ties.
Ambition: To plan an entire lesson using only doughnuts as visual aids
Favourite saying: "Hold on, you never know when the eagles are coming" (based on events in The Hobbit)
Caroline Hartley
A lover of all things small, especially the intricate workings of the body, cellular genetics and biochemical pathways. Greatest desire is to impress on students the wonders of the molecular world.
Pet likes: Coloured pens, makeing posters, yeast
Pet dislikes: Most ecologists!
Biggest ambition: To prove that small is indeed beautiful
Carol Lekkas
A physiologist by degree, with a great desire to impart the joys of learning how the body actually works. What could be more exciting than beginning to understand how all the systems in the body are intricately linked?
Pet likes: Doing dissections, anything to do with the brain
Pet dislikes: Phobic about cockroaches on the loose
Biggest ambition: To get pupils enthusiastic about how their bodies work