Edexcel has done it again: yet another rewriting of their suite of specifications has impinged heavily on the design and content of the A level physics syllabus. Yes, the whole exercise has its rationale and each individual tweak, nip and tuck has its justification but, at times, one cannot help but feel that therein lies a seven-year-itch! The last major overhaul came under the guise of C2K (curriculum two thousand) for first assessment in 2001/'02 and just now, when everybody is relaxed with the courses, content with the exams and suitably reinforced with the appropriate resources, we're back to the cosmetic clinic for a new touch-up. The text books must be changed, the practical requirements must be readdressed and the assessment system must be closely scrutinised to guarantee the maintenance of standards. Staple items (such as moments) are jettisoned; classics (such as momentum) are relegated; properties of materials are highlighted and particle physics is entrenched. Yet, the niggling disquiet remains: change for change's sake..?

The Claverley bandwagon freewheels along: James (class of '04) graduated with an honours degree from Bath and now proceeds to the dizzying heights of higher degree research under the patronage of the National Physical Laboratory; Megan, the peerless science star and multiple prize winner of '08, leaves us to also read physics, but at Imperial. Andrés Monge, third and last of another noble line of maths-physicists, kept the family flag – hoisted to towering levels by siblings Carla ('00) and Juan ('02) – flying famously. Andrew Cooke, much sought-after by the electronic engineering departments of British universities, will hope to emulate the achievements of his sister, Camilla ('05) as she proceeds confidently into her final year of physics at Bristol. The mercurial Eddie Matos ('04) worked his last summer holidays in Ecuador with Engineers without Borders to help provide fresh running water for the locals. Olympiada gold medalist Nathalie Ormazabal ('03) graduated from ICAI and JoonSik Sohn Li ('01) writes: “I finished my M Eng course at Imperial and am now immersed in research in the Adhesives and Composites centre in the same department – more specifically, I am investigating the fatigue behaviour of nano-modified epoxy adhesives.” Now, that's what's known as finishing on a high note! But...Neven Blaskovich ('07) wrote from Oxford: “the practical consisted of five frictionless gliders on an air-track, interlinked with springs, which allowed us to study the normal modes of oscillation of such a system. We didn't use light gates though, but we used an ultrasonic ranger instead. Like it?” Yes indeed, Neven, we sure do! And that's an even higher note!

Sadly, the department loses Mrs Tudor: family and domestic considerations prompted her to return to her old place of employment. A wonderful colleague – ever cheerful and hugely co-operative – she will be sorely missed; her pupils gave her one of the biggest farewell cards ever seen in the history of science. Dr Allen continually tries to muscle his way back into the physics community and yours truly confesses to having had one of his best years ever in the profession – thank you to all, but particularly the pupils, who contributed to this very happy state.