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This year, we embraced the British Science Week theme – Change and adapt!

Our week began with a visit from GP and author, Dr Hannah Weston-Simons. As well as enjoying her rhyming poems about the body, Year 6 discovered more about the circulatory system including how our heart adjusts to different levels of activity and what our spleen has in common with a vampire! A perfect extension to our Staying Alive topic.

Upstairs, the Labs were alive with the sound of music as Year 4 played their handmade harmonicas. Could they use them to change the pitch and volume of the sound? The answer was a resounding ‘yes’!

Year 2 and Year 3 made their first visit to the Labs. What happens when vinegar or bicarbonate of soda are added to red cabbage solution? What if they mix them all together? The joy on the children’s faces as the solutions changed colour and fizzed was a delight to see. Well done to our budding young scientists for their careful observations and great ideas to explain what they saw happening.

For Year 8, it was the ‘Stop & Drop’ challenge. What happens in remote parts of the World after a devastating earthquake? The pupils were tasked with building a basic landing pad and signalling device to communicate with a fictional helicopter delivering aid from the air. Using their knowledge of electricity and forces, they built circuits from limited resources communicated in Morse code and dropped supplies using handmade parachutes from the Sports Hall viewing gallery. Congratulations to Tom H for landing his parachute directly on the pad!

Year 5 learnt about the push to use more sustainable packaging for online deliveries. What’s the difference between packing peanuts and polystyrene? Adding them to water answered this question. Could they then use packing peanuts and water to build a strong igloo structure? The Labs were full of great designs – well done to Year 5 for their engineering skills and creativity.

Rounding off our busy week, Year 7 were challenged to build a balloon-powered car from recycled materials. There was plenty of resilience on show as they adapted their designs ready for the final competition. Congratulations to Herbie L for building the car which travelled the furthest and to Mrs S Clarke for entering her own design in the race.