Organised by the Science Department, the week featured a variety of hands-on experiments, demonstrations and investigations, designed to spark curiosity and bring scientific concepts vividly to life.

The week began with Year 8 exploring anatomy through a fish head dissection, examining the key structures of a salmon head and studying the gills in particular to understand how they are perfectly adapted for breathing underwater.

Meanwhile, Year 7 embarked on an extended investigation exploring the question: What is the best light for plant growth? Pupils planted seeds and placed them under different coloured transparent plastics, carefully observing which conditions produced the fastest growth.

Things became more explosive during Year 9’s ‘Demo Day’, where pupils witnessed some spectacular science in action. Demonstrations included the famous ‘elephant’s toothpaste’ reaction showing the effects of catalysts, dramatic custard powder fireballs to explore combustion, energetic screaming jelly babies demonstrating exothermic reactions, and the creation of zippy flyers and hairdryer ping-pong to investigate aerodynamics.

Later in the week, Year 10 took part in the intriguing ‘Maggot’s Choice’ experiment, investigating the preferred habitats of maggots. By creating chambers with different conditions—moist or dry, light or dark—pupils observed where the maggots gathered. Most pupils approached the experiment with enthusiasm (and only a few squeals!).

The excitement extended into the Junior School too, where Year 6 pupils have entered the BayLab National Competition, designing their own scientific lab coats. They will also be continuing the scientific exploration next week with a heart dissection as part of their biology studies.

British Science Week once again demonstrated the importance of hands-on learning and scientific exploration, encouraging pupils to ask questions, experiment and discover. A huge thank you to the Science teachers and technicians who organised such a memorable and inspiring week of science.