Trip to Bentley Priory

On Wednesday 17 January, Bentley Priory Museum celebrated the centenary of the foundation of the RAF with the opening of the RAF 100 Schools Project. Bentley Priory used to be the original Headquarters of the RAF. This ambitious project has been carried out along with the help of The Historical Association and the Institute of Physics. Around 40 boys from Habs travelled to Bentley Priory on this important day to take part. Half of them were part of the Mr Kerr’s (Head of Physics) Year 8 Physics class, the other half were part of the Year 10 History class taught by Dr Courtney (Head of History).

The second half of the afternoon was split into two: a guided activity and a team workshop on building a model plane. The guided tour began in the office of Sir Hugh Dowding, a widely acclaimed pioneer in the RAF and the Battle of Britain. There, the boys watched a 10-minute video about his life and achievements. The next part of the tour included a replica of the Filter Room, where about 30 or so women would work, moving counters around to show live updates of flying planes. The model aircraft building activity was very successful, again led by Dr Taj Bhutta, who was able to talk about forces and moments, as well as the role of certain parts of the aircraft. The boys also tried out their finished projects, and had much fun taking part in their own miniature ‘dogfight’! At the end of the session, each of the boys were presented with their own model aircraft kit, so they could refine their designs in their own time.