At the end of March Year 13 students Gabriella Templer, Yael Ben-Tal and Nicholas Jagersma attended the first ever CERN Masterclass to be held in New Zealand.

The three students, along with 12 others from around New Zealand, were invited to The University of Auckland to learn about one of the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and to analyse recent data from collisions. Dr. Krofcheck and Dr. Allfrey, nuclear physicists at The University of Auckland, and Mr Tristan O'Hanlon from the College took the students through a crash course in advanced particle Physics. They also spent the first afternoon analysing over 100 collisions from the giant CMS detector at CERN.

The next day students compiled their results with six other universities from around the world and successfully identified three distinct particles: the Z0 Borson, and the J/Psi and Upsilon Mesons. A video teleconference was held later in the day with students from the USA, Puerto Rico and Brazil to discuss the results. Physicists from Fermilab, Chicago, assured the students that their analysis was excellent and they confirmed the students' findings.

Our students enjoyed the amazing opportunity to experience some real physics from the LHC, which is the biggest experiment ever attempted.

Congratulations to Alice Ham (Year 12) who has been selected as a member of the New Zealand Synchronised Swimming Team to compete at the 2012 Oceania Championships in Noumea.

Matthew Harvey (Year 13) travelled to the Correspondence School in Wellington recently. He delivered a 15 minute presentation and then the panel of experts questioned him rigorously for a further 30 minutes. Then he had to fly back to Auckland in time to take a test for the MAX extension Maths programme at The University of Auckland.

It was a tough day for Matthew, but well worth it as he received confirmation that he had gained one of the five places on the New Zealand team to compete against about twenty countries in the Physics Olympiad in southern Germany in July. When asked how he felt the presentation went Matthew said, "It is so hard to tell as one is always on the defensive. One of my strengths is that I know the theory well, so I can defend my position."

The New Zealand team comprises four boys and one girl from schools in Wellington and Auckland, and they will be faced with presenting 17 Physics problems at the finals. They have prepared some of these already for the regional and national competitions, and the team members will be assigned to lead the specific problems in which they have the most expertise. The tournaments are conducted with one member speaking at a time. Everyone has their own strengths in each problem. Certain rules apply, so that everyone has an opportunity to take part. Matthew is in charge of three experiments, which he has to get ready before the trip. Needless to say this will take a great deal of time and effort, for both Matthew and Mr O'Hanlon, which will take place after school each day.

Mr Larne Edmeades asked Matthew how we can prepare best for future teams. Matthew replied, "You want to look for people who are good at Physics and who are capable of dedicating a lot of time. You need students who can think on their feet and who can be creative when asked about something they have not yet thought about. You also need people who are good presenters - a lot of it is about the impression you make and how you keep control of the discussion with your opponent. When in opposition you need to be able to challenge without getting aggressive."

Mr Edmeades congratulated Matthew on his great achievement and recognised the huge amount of time and commitment he had dedicated to the Oympiad. His was a great example to other students and he hoped Matthew would return next year to help prepare students to take part in 2013 and beyond.