Oundle School has a long and proud tradition of being at the forefront of STEM teaching and learning, which began at the start of the twentieth century under the leadership of Headmaster FW Sanderson, whose innovations established Oundle's reputation in science and engineering education.
Oundle’s SciTec site unites Mathematics, Science, and Design, Engineering & Technology both physically and philosophically, enabling pupils to move seamlessly from theory to practice, and from pure science to the achievement of a workable technology.
Subjects taught here
Each of the departments is staffed by subject specialist teachers and supported by professional and skilled technicians, all of whom aim to ensure that academic success is motivated by a passion for the subject and an appreciation of the value of STEM.
Practical work is central to the way that the sciences are taught. Facilities include 16 dual classroom labs, a wind tunnel, an atomic force microscope, a highspeed camera, a rooftop observatory, and dedicated Project Rooms for each individual science, housing advanced glassware as well as molecular biology and data-logging equipment.
Outside the classroom, SciTec departments organise society lectures, fieldwork, workshops, masterclasses, conferences, visits and professional work placements throughout the year.
JONATHAN PEVERLEY, HEAD OF STEM“Pupils should ultimately have a deep and genuine understanding of STEM, for example, appreciating that the study of percentages in a Mathematics classroom is not just about assimilating theoretical knowledge of numbers, but about understanding how the calculation of percentages can be applied to levels of tolerance within the manufacture of a car engine.”
16 dual classroom labs
Wind tunnel
Atomic force microscope
Highspeed camera
Rooftop observatory
Dedicated Project Rooms
Opened in 2007, SciTec is a major and ground-breaking science complex housing 16 state-of-the-art laboratories. Phase 1 was designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and received a National RIBA Award in May 2008.
In 2016, SciTec was extended in Phase 2 to include a new Mathematics department, a refurbished Needham Building for Physics and an extended and refurbished Patrick Engineering Centre. Designed by van Heyningen and Haward Architects, Phase 2 completed the architectural aspiration of a grand entrance to SciTec, and created an internal quadrangle, giving equal status to all disciplines.
Oundle’s STEM offering has been developed in partnership with both Imperial College, London and the Swansea University Engineering department, enabling Oundle to draw upon significant expertise from these institutions to develop collaborative STEM projects across the state and independent sector. Oundle employs an Imperial College London Outreach Fellow who teaches Biology and Chemistry and leads science clubs in local schools as part of our partnership programme. A STEM outreach programme takes science out to primary schools, whilst Oundle STEM Potential works with Imperial College to offer a programme for pupils from local secondary schools that includes termly workshops and masterclasses hosted at SciTec.
