Biology

We remember Rosemary Cox

For her enthusiasm, her positive encouragement and recognition of potential. Mrs Cox made Biology accessible and gave us enough self belief to take ourselves seriously and achieve success.

This self belief and confidence spilled over into the other scientific disciplines. She will not be forgotten.

We remember Sam Wilkinson

BIOLOGY CHANTS

Sam Wilkinson's teaching style was unique and owed much to his drama training. On our first day in his Biology class, we were instructed to write down a number of Biology Chants in the last page of our exercise book.

Every week, at the moment he entered the room to start the lesson, we were instructed to shout these chants at the top of our voices, as loud as we wanted, in unison.

Of course we complied - we were 11, it was enormous fun, and ensured that Sam's arrival in the form room was heralded by a huge amount of shouting. We were instantly alert, happy and we already had our exercise books open!

As he said, "in five years time when you're sitting in the Gym looking at a Biology O'level question, you'll say to yourself, "Now what was that silly old bu**er trying to tell me about digestion... or hormones? oh yes..!" ( he would then mime a smiling pupil writing extremely fast).."

Remarkably, it worked! After only seven repetitions per phrase, they still stick in the mind, more than 30 years later. We had a kick start in Biology which helped propel a good number on to A level Biology, Scientific and Medical degrees at University.

At an old boys dinner in the last 1990s, Shaun Grady recalled some of the chants and was rewarded by the whole room of old boys (now aged 30s to 50s) shouting them once again in unison. How good is that?

"CARBOHYDRATES, FATS AND PROTEINS FORM ! ...GLUCOSE, GLYCEROL AND AMINO ACIDS!!"

"DE-OXY-RIBO-NUCLEIC-ACID! ....DNA!!"

"HORMONES ARE CHEMICAL MESSENGERS!"

"A GAMETE AND A GAMETE MAKE A ZYGOTE!"

these are a few... can anyone remember the full set?