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Tuesday 17th Jun 2008, 9:21am | Teacher Rewarded for Reversing Science Decline
At a time when university science departments are closing and numbers of students taking up the hard sciences are in sharp decline, a teacher in Kent has been included in the Queen’s birthday honours list from inspiring record numbers of students to take A Level physics. Becky Parker, Head of Physics at Simon Langton Boys’ School has two reasons to be cheerful this month. She has had her work recognized by an honorary degree by the University of Kent as well as her MBE from the Queen.
The awards are for outstanding contributions to science and education and for encouraging record numbers of students to take up physics. The Langton has established itself as one of the country’s premier science schools since taking science specialist status in 2003 and headteacher, Dr Matthew Baxter, recognizes Mrs Parker’s role in that. “Becky is the reason why so many students, especially girls, join our Sixth Form to study the sciences. The atmosphere in her classroom is electric and the opportunities she provides for our students go way beyond those enjoyed by many undergraduates.” The school will have over 150 students studying for Physics A Level from September, more than any other school in the country.
Mrs Parker studied at the University of Sussex and then the University of Chicago and was senior lecturer at the University of Kent before coming to the Langton. No stranger to honours, she was recognized as Physics Teacher of the Year in 1999 by the Institute of Physics. Of her honours she said, “I feel extremely honoured to be given these awards. What is so exciting at the school is the fact that we are not just teaching physics, but involving students in original research. We work closely with the plasma group at Imperial College and our students are contributing original ideas to solving problems with plasma ejections from stars.”
Langton students are also collaborating with the European particle physics laboratory, CERN, and are leading participants in the Faulkes Telescope Project and a number of senior students have made important original astronomical discoveries. The Langton had control of the Faulkes Near Earth Objects Project monitoring the progress of asteroids and meteorites and Dave Bowdley of the Faulkes Institute was appointed Visiting Astronomer and Faulkes Teaching Fellow at the school.
Recent speakers at the school have included Nobel Laureate, Professor Tony Leggett, Professor Steve Rose of Imperial College, London, and Professor Brian Foster, Head of Particle Physics at Oxford University. Dr Patrick Caines of Oxford University is to give the inaugural delivery of his paper on “A Geometric Model of Relativity” at the school on Thursday 19th June.
In 2005 the Langton Star Centre was born and is now awaiting physical accommodation on the school site. “The vision of the Langton Star Centre, to empower students to extend their learning way beyond any formal syllabus, is at the heart of the school. It is intended that the Star Centre will develop into one of the country’s leading centres of student research into particle and plasma physics and astronomy. The Headteacher, Dr Baxter, has created an inspiring atmosphere that nurtures innovation and creativity.” said Mrs Parker.
Mrs Parker is pictured with Star Centre researchers who are currently building a cosmic ray detector and are due to fly out to CERN to work with the team that makes the central detectors for the Large Hadron Collider and gain some useful advice.
Becky Parker is the second member of the Boys’ School staff to be honoured by the Queen. Ray Jarvis was awarded and MBE for services to education in 2003.
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