What a fantastic week of activities and opportunities. I’ve turned the content into a cohesive website news story while keeping the key details, quotes and achievements intact.
British Science Week Sparks Curiosity Across the School
Wow, what a wonderful Science Week we have had! A huge thank you to our amazing Science teachers and all staff involved for their hard work in organising such an exciting programme of events. With experiments, workshops, lectures, competitions, visits and hands-on activities taking place across every year group, there truly was something for everyone.
This year’s British Science Week theme of “Curiosity” inspired pupils from Nursery through to Year 11 to explore, investigate and ask questions about the world around them.
Inspiring STEM Experiences at Brockenhurst College
Many of our senior pupils had the opportunity to visit Brockenhurst College as part of the week’s activities.
Mr Marker said:
“All of Year 10 visited Brockenhurst College for an exciting programme of workshops. Pupils attended a lecture on the psychology of healthy eating, explored the Tech Truck where they used VR headsets and vehicle simulators, and enjoyed an informative session on maritime careers. It was a brilliant introduction to post-16 STEM opportunities and career pathways.”
Year 10 Scholars and Laureates returned to the college for a bespoke enrichment programme.
“Our Year 10 Scholars and Laureates returned to Brockenhurst College for a bespoke day designed to stretch and challenge them. They heard from ExxonMobil about routes into the petrochemical industry and their work with the Red Bull Formula One team, complete with a life-size Formula One replica on display. Pupils also took part in a high-level physics workshop exploring the Casimir effect and the collapse of black holes, offering a taste of advanced concepts far beyond GCSE level.”
Year 9 Scholars and Laureates also enjoyed challenging sessions designed to extend their learning.
“Our Year 9 Scholars and Laureates visited Brockenhurst College for their own bespoke sessions, engaging with challenging content and demonstrating excellent curiosity throughout.”
Bringing STEM to Life
Our Year 5 pupils enjoyed an immersive STEM experience that brought their “How Things Work” theme vividly to life. Through hands-on experiments and interactive exhibits, pupils experienced a day filled with curiosity, discovery and scientific wonder.
Meanwhile, Year 1 and 2 pupils spent an exciting day exploring exhibitions and interactive displays where they could touch, build and experiment for themselves. The experience sparked plenty of questions and enthusiasm back in the classroom.
Early Years Exploration
Our Nursery and Kindergarten pupils were delighted to discover a brand-new water exploration feature, designed and built by our talented Estates Team especially for Science Week.
The hands-on installation includes scoops, tubes, wheels and containers that allow children to investigate the movement and flow of water through play. Pupils explored how water travels through different channels and mechanisms while developing their understanding of concepts such as gravity, motion and volume.
The project has already become a popular part of outdoor learning and is a wonderful example of Science Week in action. Thank you to our Estates Team for creating such an engaging and educational addition to our Early Years area.
Kindergarten pupils also explored the fascinating world of static electricity.
Using ideas from a science book, the children rubbed balloons to generate an electric charge, discovering how it could make hair stand up and attract small pieces of paper. It was a brilliant introduction to scientific enquiry and produced plenty of “hair-raising” moments.
Designing, Building and Investigating
As part of our British Science Week celebrations, Pre-Prep pupils were challenged to create boats at home as part of their “How It Works” investigation.
Mrs Hunt said:
“As part of our British Science Week celebrations, some of our Pre-Prep pupils created their own boats at home for their How It Works investigation. A variety of materials were used and the designs ranged from very simple and effective to ones with baffles! They were delighted to see that all their boats floated and they could carry lots of marbles!”
Year 5 pupils were also set a boat-building challenge
Mrs Greaves explained:
“Year 5 was set the challenge of building a boat that could float and hold as much weight as possible. They had to use their knowledge of water resistance and upthrust to help them. The only things they were allowed to use were two paper straws, an aluminium foil rectangle and 20 cm of Sellotape. They then had great fun testing their creations in a small aquarium. The winning one held over 500g and little did they know the straws and Sellotape were just red herrings!”
Reception pupils investigated magnets and learned the scientific terms “repel” and “attract” while creating cars, castles, ice creams and even a pull-along snake.
Reception Explore Magnets
“As part of Science Week the Reception class has been exploring with magnets. We can now use the words repel and attract to describe the movements of the magnets, and we can predict how something might move by looking at the colours of the magnets.” Mrs Edwards
Year 6 Underwent a Creative Challenge
Year 6 pupils embraced this year’s theme through a creative challenge involving Curiosity Mystery Boxes.
Mrs Greaves said:
“Year 6 pupils were challenged this week by Curiosity Mystery Boxes containing a selection of objects. Pupils had to examine the objects, testing them for balance, movement, connection and sound. They then had to come up with a ‘What if?’ question based on their discoveries and create an object to investigate the idea.”
Questions included:
What if a balloon can move on its own?
What if we could make a working zip-wire?
What if the cup could fly?
What if we could make a swing?
The resulting inventions included hot air balloons, a catapult, a zip-wire, a human body model, a double-decker swing and a fishing rod.
Year 4 pupils also explored the science behind prosthetic limbs. Through a workshop led by Mrs Greaves, pupils learned how muscles and tendons work together before designing and constructing their own moving bionic hands.
Fossils, Photosynthesis and Medical Science
Science Week also welcomed several expert visitors.
Former staff member Mr Paul Craven returned to deliver a fascinating “Fossils and Gems” session for pupils in Years 3, 7 and 8.
Mr Marker said:
“Rounding off the week, former staff member Mr Paul Craven returned to deliver a ‘Fossils and Gems’ session to pupils in Years 3, 7 and 8. He discussed how fossils form, demonstrated the properties of various gemstones and allowed pupils to explore real specimens, a hands-on experience that brought Earth science vividly to life. Thank you, Mr Craven.”
In the classroom, Year 10 pupils carried out practical experiments investigating photosynthesis
Miss Rothwell said:
“Year 10 pupils carried out an experiment to test leaves for the presence of starch. This allowed them to identify whether photosynthesis had taken place.”
Senior pupils also benefited from inspiring careers and higher education talks.
Mr Marker continued:
“Our senior pupils attended a careers lecture on nursing from Mrs Rose Baylis. Her talk covered different routes into the profession, key skills required and the diverse career pathways available within the NHS. Pupils left with a clearer understanding of the opportunities and the vital role nurses play in healthcare.”
Year 10 and 11 Scholars and Laureates also attended a biomedical science lecture by Dr Mel Smith from Southampton University Hospital.
“Our Year 10 and Year 11 Scholars and Laureates were treated to a fascinating biomedical science lecture delivered at school by Dr Mel Smith, a researcher at Southampton University Hospital. She shared insights into her work in clinical academia, current research areas and life as a biomedical scientist. The talk was inspiring, informative and offered a real glimpse into modern medical research.”
Curiosity Competition Celebrates Innovation
To mark this year’s British Science Week theme, we launched our own Curiosity Competition, open to every pupil from Pre-Prep to Year 11.
The challenge was simple:
“Find something you are curious about and explain how it works.”
The quality of entries was outstanding.
One of the standout projects was a working model of engine pistons created by Will S (Year 9).
Other winning entries included:
Bea (Year 6) for her Wizard of Oz-themed tornado project
Myka (Year 6) for a model explaining fossil formation and the stages of fossilisation
Frankie (Year 7) for a working lung model
A Week to Remember
From static electricity and magnet investigations to advanced physics, biomedical research and engineering challenges, British Science Week gave pupils of all ages the opportunity to explore, discover and ask questions.
Thank you to all of our staff, visiting speakers, partner organisations and, most importantly, our pupils for making this year’s British Science Week such a tremendous success. Curiosity was certainly alive and thriving across the school.
