On Monday, 21^st September, Woldingham School’s refurbished Science Centre was officially opened by Guest of Honour, the physicist, oceanographer and BBC presenter, Dr Helen Czerski. A reception in the Science Centre was held to mark the occasion, attended by the Headmistress, Governors, Senior Management Team, past and present Science staff, architects, builders, and furniture suppliers, along with the Head Girl and her Deputies. Following the reception, Helen gave a fascinating talk to girls, parents and staff in the school’s Auditorium on ‘Patterns in Science’; her enthusiasm and breadth of knowledge kept the audience captivated, and the evening finished with an entertaining Q&A session.

The three year project commenced in summer 2014 with the refurbishment of two laboratories to trial designs.  Summer 2015 saw the major refurbishment phase, including four labs, staff room, preparation room, the central hall, external cladding and new windows as well as the roof-top greenhouse.

Consideration to ensure maximum space and appropriate usage for each discipline led to quite a different approach for the three separate sciences.  In Physics the rooms have been orientated through 90 degrees to the original layout, to allow for three rows of benching and a demo bench at the back. The Chemistry lab, being heavily practical, allows for lots of group practical work. The Biology lab makes use of two sweeping curves with a moveable demo bench at the front for dissections and other demonstrations.  The girls are excited by the changes: all labs have been upgraded with the latest touch screen whiteboards, and new lighting has made the spaces bright and inviting places in which to learn.

The final three labs and the second prep room will be completed in summer 2016.  It will result in Woldingham School having nine state-of-the-art laboratories fit for future generations of budding scientists.