Winners of the School Reporters Competition
Thanks to all of the reporters for entering the competition.
All of the reports were excellent and conveyed the excitement and enthusiasm of the participants (healthcare professionals, teachers and students) as well as the breadth of amazing achievements brought about by the application of science and knowledge to healthcare. The reports were full of praise for the knowledge and skills of the myriad presenters as well as compliments on their friendliness, approachability and willingness to explain.
The reports were judged on enthusiasm, understanding, literacy and scope, with an allowance made for school year. The judges found it very hard to agree on a winner. They would have loved to award prizes to all, but that was not possible and they agreed that the winning entry was the joint report from Priya Mehta and Puja Mistrry, Year 10 students from The Swaminarayan School. They win the third Olympus digital camera for their school.
You can read all of the reports below and decide whether you agree with the judges.
Don Henderson, Chairman, Organising Group
April 2007
Priya Mehta and Puja Mistrry, The Swaminarayan School, Year 10
On the 15th of March, at Kensington town hall, healthcare scientists and allied health professionals organised the 4th annual Schools Science Conference. This very prestigious event was sponsored by many well known medical associations, namely, Skills For Health, Chemistry the next generation, new scientists, to name a few of the many organisations. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Healthy Living’. The event started with a welcoming and introduction of the whole event made by Don Henderson, who is a consultant clinical scientist and divisional manager for immunology. Following him we had two speakers: • Dr Keith Ison • Pippa Hodgson Dr Keith Ison He is the chairman of the Federation For Health Care Science. He talked about balance and co-ordination. His presentation started of with an audience involving activity, where a volunteer came up and tried to balance a ruler on his hand. This was extremely enjoyable to watch. Pippa Hodgson She is the Programme Manager for the Modernising Healthcare Science Careers programme, skills for health. She talked about skills for health (the skills required for healthy living). She said that day-by-day people are getting more experienced with technology. Pippa Hodgson also went on to say how the skills for running a business are very similar to the skills required for a healthy living. All schools were grouped under different colours. Each colour group had the same programme but with different timings which allowed us enough time to gain knowledge about the conference. Our school was grouped under the blue colour. Our programme started of with a ‘Meat and Two Veg’ presentation. In this presentation, we talked about fats and proteins and how good and bad fat is. We also came to realise that although some people are fat they may be healthier than slimmer people, the reason for this may be that the fat person may have fat just under their skin, this is not harmful, but the slim person may have fat around their organs, which is more dangerous. After the ‘meat and two veg’ presentation we all had lunch which was provided. They had arranged all different types of meals, which was extremely overwhelming. In second part of the conference we went downstairs to the ground floor, where all the interactive stands were put up. They all showed us how different parts of the body can be cured. There were also stands displaying and introducing biomedical science. This was held by Mr Chris. He had biomedical products which helped to cure diseases. These diseases were caused by fungi, parasites, bacteria and viruses. There were many activities which were held there, these included, learning how to stitch, recognising the blood group, identifying the amount of sugar in certain fizzy drinks. There was also a stand about the curing of cancer, which was held by Alex and his colleagues. Alex talked about skin cancer. Skin cancer can be caused by old age, exposure to sunlight or UV light. Its symptoms are itchiness and it can be cured by surgery or medicines. We also talked to many other doctors and hospital workers there and we asked them what they thought was the deterioration of the NHS and we got very common replies such as there is too much management and not very organised. But I feel these are going to be the very unavoidable consequences which will result in any large organisation such as the NHS. We then went downstairs to the second part of the interactive stands where there were two other rooms where very informative discussions and presentations were going on. One of such presentations was on Sarah Jones who was a plastic surgeon. But her plastic surgery was not like ordinary plastic surgery, she has the art to make people look normal and help them stand up in society. One example of a case that came to her was that a person has an eye missing. So Sarah first created a socket and then made an artificial eye matching to the patient’s original one. She then placed the artificial eye in the socket which then made the person look normal. But of course they are not able to se4e through that eye. This was just one of some of her many operations. While much of the pictures were gory, the end results were amazingly clean. After we had finished we all went up to the mai9n hall where we had the final conclusion of the day. In the end we had the opportunity to listen to a very ambitious and successful being called Alison Mowbray. Alison is an Olympic Silver medallist. She was on the British rowing team for seven years and competed in five World championships and two Olympic Games. She talked to us about her life and how she achieved what she her goal. It was extremely interesting to find out how she developed a side interest in rowing whist she was studying Genetic Engineering. She also managed to complete her PhD in Cambridge University in Genetic Engineering. Alison did this along with improving and furthering her interests and skills in rowing. She was amazing to listen to. A perfect role model. In conclusion we would like to say that NHS helps to cure people suffering from diseases and all sorts of other illnesses. We as a country are very fortunate to have NHS in our country which provides free health services, so we don’t have to worry about our treatment fees. It is a great help for others who are financially weak. I would also like to thank the organisers of this event for putting together a conference which was so inspiring, educational and informative. On behalf of The Swaminarayan School I would like to say thank you to the organisers and that we absolutely enjoyed the event.
Karishma Patel, The Swaminarayan School, Year 10
I found that this experience was magnificent. The activity’s we could do there were educational as well as being fun. I did not know that there are so many fields you could go into in science. I was amazed at how much dedication scientists and professors put into their work. They have now made me realize how interesting science is and that how I could be in their places in future and help people the way they are helping us, and other humans right now. Maybe in future we could find a cure for diseases that have no cure right now. When we do find the cure then we will be thinking that if it were not for this spectacular science conference and the scientists who explained so much to us, then we would not have achieved what we have achieved today. So I would like to thank the wonderful people who have put in all their hard work in order to organize this fantastic conference. You have helped me develop my knowledge about science, and I cannot wait for the next conference. Thank you!!!!!!!
Antony M M Wambua, St Marks Catholic School/Sixth Form, Year 12
National Science week Visit at Kingston Hall On the 15th of March 2007 some science students from St Marks Catholic sixth form and I attended an event at Kingston town hall celebrating science and all of its branches. We were not alone; there were also over three hundred students present from other High schools and collages. In the morning of the event we were generously provided with lunch and were given a talk about what to expect. In the talk we were given a PowerPoint presentation about how the NHS has changed drastically and that it allowed people with qualifications to move onto other professions within the NHS side to side instead of being restricted to move straight up within that profession. This would allow people more freedom and access to be what the wanted to be. The power point presentation also showed how we could reach the top of the ladder in our professions. Inclusive in this morning briefing was a talk from other scientists. One of these was a physicist who began his talk with a delightful demonstration about the physics behind balancing a pole on your hand. After the briefing we were then able to roam the three levels of the hall looking at the different kiosks set up. I was very impressed with the presentations set up; they were very diverse and interesting. Out of these the most I found gripping and informative was the: •Nurse presentation •Chemical testing presentation •Heart presentation •Nerve impulse presentation •Ear presentation Nurse presentation This was about how to treat patients and injecting them. I had a go doing so on a rubber hand. I was also shown stomach-churning pictures of people’s accidents which were quite disturbing. Chemical testing presentation Here I was given a chance to test some ones blood for malaria. I was very interested in this because after I was given a free Smoothie “J” To test for malaria I had to suck the blood using a capillary tube and the drip it into a testing packet. The one I got showed negative for malaria as one line appeared on the top of the packet. Heart Presentation This was possibly the most technical. It included a machine which was used as a replacement heart in the unfortunate event of an operation. This machine was quite amazing because you could even control the blood pressure and heart rate, even more so you could see all the blood whizzing around. Nerve impulse presentation In this one I was hooked up to some patches that were feed into a power supply. When turned on nerve impulses were passed into my arm making it vibrate. It felt ticklish but if I resisted the impulses I felt pain. I learnt that this use of impulses is used for therapy after never damage. Ear presentation This was perhaps the most horrific even more that the pictures from the nurse presentation. It included a machine that allowed you to see into your ear canal. Mine showed ear wax which clogged the canal. Not very nice! However I wasn’t the worst as some other student appeared to have foreign objects in their ears.
Claudine Losowski, St Mark’s, Hounslow, Year 12
Schools Science Conference 2007 Student Report The theme of this years Schools Science Conference was “Healthy Eating”, and the aim of the day was to allow pupils from various schools to find out more about the healthcare profession in general, and to learn more about the food that we put into our bodies. After having a brief introduction into the history of the conference and the how the healthcare service has evolved, we were split into groups and set about our tasks. The first stop for my group was the healthy eating interactive workshop. When we arrived, the sight of many stands greeted us, each showing a different element of the medical profession. On the first stand, we were given the opportunity to test some urine using the “Multistix Urine Dipstick” test (where you had to dip the reactant strip into the urine and then wait for the colour to change, before reading the results off the tube), as well as discussing the presence of crystals (eg. struvite and calcium oxalate) in urine samples. We were also given a chance to learn how to correctly give injections. In addition to this, we also learnt how to take someone’s blood pressure, and discussed the problems with hypertension with the nurse. Next, we were given a talk by two speech and language therapists, and they discussed their day-to-day workload. I originally assumed that their working environment consisted of just the hospital, but to my surprise, they also travel to schools and nurseries teaching particular methods to children who for one reason or another are struggling to speak properly. After lunch, we were given a presentation on our diet, and we had the opportunity to discuss the impact of what we eat on our overall health. Next stop was more interactive stands, and this time we were given the opportunity to analyse blood samples and how dependant doctors are on blood test results. For instance, routine blood tests comprise of biochemistry (taken with a blood sample mixed with lithium heparin) and haematology (blood mixed in an EDTA tube). I also learnt how blood results could diagnose a variety of ailments, for example raised urea, creatinine and phosphorous levels usually means chronic renal failure, whereas the presence of a large number of white blood cells usually means there is an infection of the body. On another stand, we were given the chance to attempt to stitch up a wound, and I learnt about the different types of stitching used, such as the blanket stitch and the simple interrupted. I also had a chance to try the cruciate stitch, which I found the easiest! I found the heart bypass machine the most interesting, as the way that the machine can take over the role of the heart during surgery is amazing. I had the opportunity to speak to the person there, and I discussed his role within the healthcare profession. We talked about how he was in charge of the machine, and how each surgery costs around £800 just to use the machine, as all the parts must be new and sterile. We talked about how he attends CPD (Continual Professional Development) courses to maintain his knowledge of advancements in the profession, and how this is a legal requirement for doctors and some other members in the profession. In addition to this, I also found the suturing stand very interesting, as we had the chance to use actual surgical instruments and how to use them correctly. The whole day was inspirational, and did encourage me to continue studying the sciences, not just up to A2 level, but also at university. The day gave me an invaluable insight into the breadth of careers in the healthcare profession, from the stereotypical doctors and nurses right through to microbiologists, radiographers, anaesthetists, and all those who work behind the scenes in various laboratories. Actually seeing what the people did every day meant that I could actually get a feel for the job, and I realised that lots of people work together in making people better. Without the biochemists, and many others, doctors just would not be able to do their job properly, and obviously lives would be lost. The entire day was a success, and was extremely useful. I was definitely inspired to undertake a career in the health service, and the conference provided me with all the resources I needed to make an informed decision on my future.
Tuhina Joseph, St. Marks Catholic School, Year 12
The 45 minute trip early Thursday morning did not electrify for the brilliant day ahead of me. The normal thought through everybody’s mind before a science conference is dull, boring and it’s not worth the travel effort. But I was proved wrong. Upon entering the conference and taking our seats n the auditorium a sense of dread was cast upon me, however once the introduction session fired up I was listening intently to the words of Dr Keith Ison who is the Chairman of the Federation for Healthcare Science at the NHS. He was answering in an indirect way all the questions that had built up in my mind since the start of year 12. He also made the introduction interesting by interacting with the students. Once the introduction had finished we were split up into 3 groups determined by a colour. We were then led to the basement where there were interactive stands based on various aspects on a healthy lifestyle. We were also given a tutorial which told us what a normal day for a speech therapist would be like. The interactive stands were very interesting as it portrayed the various different careers in the NHS and how to take care of ourselves on a day to day base. I was told that I need to exercise more by an interestingly animated nurse who also took upon himself to prove that my judgement about my teacher’s blood pressure was odd. There were various different physical aspects to the stands ranging from showing how to vaccinate a person without injuring them to how a person maintains their balance. We were also given information on how medicines are administrated in hospitals to what sort of faeces is considered healthy. Once the first session was complete we were very anxious for the next sessions. After lunch taken into a little room and given a talk about diet. During the talk freebies were thrown at people who answered random questions. These were completely unrelated to the topic. However the question that was related was to guess how much a block of fat weighed without holding it. The correct answer was 2.2kg and the kid who won the prize received an i-pod nano. We obviously all thought this was unfair as the kid was a year younger than us which also brought on a lot of shame and embarrassment as naturally we being older should’ve really won that i-pod. The afternoon then continued on with another healthy lifestyle session. This was the most interesting part of the day as I got to see what a cross section of the naked eye looked like and skin cancer cells. I then entered a draw for cosmic science in which I had to label certain diagrams unfortunately unlucky as I am I still did not win the draw. The event then finished with a prize draw and a talk by Dr Alison Mowbray which was an honour to hear. On the whole the day turned out to be a complete and utter success and changed our thoughts on conferences!
Selene Ting, St Benedict’s School, Year 12
“You don’t need to be a geeky stereotype to be a scientist.” Gone are the days when people thought that scientists have wacky blown-up hair and big nerdy glasses. This image was abolished by the rewarding day we all had at the 4th Annual Schools Science Conference. My fellow biologists of the school and I, as part of Red group, were ushered into the massive Great Hall with open arms and warm smiles after being provided with scrumptious delicacies. We were entertained with 2 lectures given by Pippa and Keith on the Skills for health and the different occupational frameworks. I found the quote said by Keith – ‘All you start with is a desire to make a difference’ very inspiring because there may be many people looking for a career within the NHS for all sorts of different reasons – but the common aspiration is to make a difference for not only Britain, but… perhaps the world too. After that, my classmates and I went down to the basement where we took interest in the different interactive stands which included viewing live sperm under the microscope and watching a CPR demonstration. Next, we were beckoned into a room where we listened to a talk given by the sleep scientist, Mary Morell. What exactly does she do as a sleep scientist? “I watch people sleep,” was her reply. This talk was the highlight of my day. It was fascinating to find out about what sleep is exactly, the different stages there are when one’s asleep, how much sleep we all need and why we need sleep scientists. My co-reporter and I managed to get an interview with the sleep expert at the end of the talk and amongst all the questions we fired at her was why she decided to pursue the path that she had to becoming a sleep physiologist. Mary said, “I was interested in how breathing is controlled and it had seemed like a good idea at that time.” I was interested to know what subjects she had taken during her A level studies, which was Biology, Geology and Dress and Design, in order to discern whether I could follow along this career path with the subjects I am currently doing. Mary had started off studying physiology before going into a deep research project, now running her own research group. She enjoys swimming and is part of a Science Art Project. After another few more minutes of friendly chat, I proceeded to lunch at the top floor foyer where each of us received a packed lunch of sandwiches. I had never seen so many excited young people who were chattering away about the day’s events. After lunch, the Red Group gathered in the Small Hall for the ‘Meat and Two Veg(or Proteins, Fats and Carbs)’ talk given by various people with different professionalisms. The talk revolved around the main theme of Healthy Living and some of the topics included were about obesity, body image and healthy diets. My favourite citation from that lecture was ‘If you don’t eat your greens, you’ll bleed to death.’ As funny as that sounds, it rings a bell in everyone’s heads, setting a reminder that vegetables are indeed good for our health. All the talkers were interesting and found ways of keeping the audience’s undivided attention by their light humour and many freebies. There was also a competition for us to guess how heavy a lump of fat was. This is fantastic as it involves the audiences to take part. After another round of refreshments at about 2pm, my classmates and I continued down to the ground floor to visit the enjoyable interactive stands. I had so much fun being an operational surgeon and had the chance to learn how to sew a wound. 1 hour passed by and it was time for rounding up – everyone assembled in the Great Hall, where 2 lucky people won Olympus cameras, kindly donated by Olympus. Then, to our delight, Alison Mowbray stepped onto the stage and gave an inspiring talk about how she got to where she was today as an Olympian silver medallist. It was disappointing that the day ended too fast but we all had a great day and many stories to share to the chemists and physicists back at school. Overall, the most important message of the day is that healthy living is essential for a happy life, and remember, ‘Fat is your friend, but it loves you too much’. As I walked out of the High Street Kensington Town Hall, I smiled as one memorable line repeated itself in my head, ‘You don’t have to be a geeky stereotype to be a scientist…’
Helena Adjei, Our Lady’s Canvent High School, Year 10
Thursday 15th March saw the return of the annual School Science Conference. This years theme was ‘A Healthy Living’. The conference was a huge eye opener to the world of healthcare and the many different career options this field of work offered. These are covered in the three main subheadings: life sciences (for example, virology and immunology), Physical sciences (devising new ways to diagnose and treat problems, design and test medical equipment) and physiological science (examining the mind of a patient for example someone who has an eating disorder). The day was filled with many fantastic speakers which included, Keith Ison chair man of the Federation for Healthcare Science and Head of Medical Physics from Guy’s and St Thomas hospital, Pippa Hodgson from skills for Health and the amazing Olympic medallist Alison Mowbray as the guest speaker. As well as very insightful and inspiring talks, there was a wide range stands and demonstrations which allowed visitors to partake in numerous hands on activities. The activities included, testing blood and urine (all of which wasn’t real), viewing the inside of your ear and monitoring your blood pressure and trying out a nerve stimulator. Some of my favourite activities included, performing CPR on a dummy, injecting a dummy with insulin and learning how to stitch a wound. There was also many quizzes that you could join in which gave you the opportunity to win some cool and rather tasty prizes ( thank you ‘innocent smoothies’). There was also a draw which gave you the opportunity to win one of two digital cameras kindly donated by Olympus. Let me not forget to mention the wonderful ‘A day in the life…’ presentations which allowed us to sneak into the lives of very interesting and hardworking people like sleep scientists, avian flu experts and clinical virologists. One very useful thing at the conference was the 10 healthy tips that were dotted around on the different floors – if you are curious of what they are or you didn’t find them all, they are posted on the website. These tasks along with the concise and professional information offered to us led to a deeper insight and a much more exciting approach to understanding and appreciating the NHS and the healthcare profession. We were able to learn and see how scientists use their skills to help us and how they are trying their hardest to improve the quality of our healthcare facilities. Before I came to the conference I thought that scientists were boring people that lived in labs, but this day proved to me that scientists have lives outside the labs and are anything but ANORAKS! I would like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers for inviting us and giving us amazing packs on our arrival and providing us with healthy food, the sponsors of this event and thank you to the scientist for a giving up their time and letting us into their lives.
Tanya Louise Williams, Our Lady’s Convent High School, Year 10
On the 15th of March 2007, as part of the National Science and Engineering week, 15 students including myself from Our Lady’s Convent High School attended the fourth annual school’s science conference for North West London, with many other schools present. This took place in Kensington Town Hall. The day was organised by healthcare scientists, and allied health professions. The theme of the conference was to promote healthy living. The day went extremely well. It was well planned and organised, with many enjoyable and exciting activities to participate in. During the day, the following topics were covered; the role of the NHS in helping people to live a healthy life style, how different types of food can affect your body, and the importance of eating a well balanced diet, which includes your five a day. The day’s programme consisted of fun activities and interactive workshops. For example, some workshops taught us how to take our blood pressure, and how to stitch an open wound. We were made aware of the chemicals inside our bodies and how they react with the different foods we consume. The speakers were very passionate and enthusiastic in delivering their topic. This drew everyones attention and made us keen in wanting to learn more about the interesting things they were telling us about. They were very welcoming and friendly. They made the students and our teachers feel at ease and gave us the confidence to enjoy and participate in the whole event. They made us feel that with hard work and motivation, we could achieve whatever we want and they encouraged us to strive for what we want. I found the conference extremely interesting and knowledgeable, and I am sure that I can speak on behalf of everyone else who participated. It was a very positive and inspirational conference. Once again, many thanks to all the speakers and workshop coordinators.
Simi Thankaraj, Ealing and West London College, AS level/year 12
Schools Science Conference 2007 Walking into the hall, greeted with goodie bags containing assorted pens and notepads and a copy of New Scientist, I expected to see a flurry of white coat donning middle-aged men and women. As we sat in a huge lecture hall, with a PowerPoint presentation beamed in front of us, I felt this would be one L-O-N-G day. After a while of waiting for someone from the Science Conference team to come up onstage, a bald man by the name of Keith came on. A handful of friends and I looked at each other simultaneously, slowly preparing ourselves for what we thought would be one boring speech… He asked for volunteers and several confident teenagers waved their hands in the air, until he chose someone coincidently from my sixth form college. The boy ran on to the stage, while Keith dangled several sticks in front of us and then in front of him. “Right! Do you think that you can balance this on your palm?” he bellowed, looking around the lecture hall as if he were a magician. The boy laughed at the simplicity of the task he was faced with and tried it. He failed. The entire population of the hall hooted with laughter. Keith (looking quite smug, may I add) gave the boy different types of sticks to balance, and now had told him to stare intently at the bottom of them. At this stage, I turned my head to the audience around me. They were transfixed on to the stage as if Keith were some sort reincarnation of Darren Brown. The stick automatically stood, as the boy swayed gently to the movement of the stick. I wandered why on the Earth he was showing us this, but whatever he was trying to achieve it worked, as the audience was transfixed onto the stage throughout the whole performance. He explained how this was the real wonder of science. By showing an example of science working right in front of our eyes, I could see it made every one more interested and helped them banish the fact that science was just all about black and white text books and tottering around a lab with white lab coats. “ It made me open my eyes to REAL science, not just the basic Bunsen burner stuff we did at high school”, Zakya Dawood from Ealing College said. Also another student, Taljinder Sangha from Ealing college, commented on how “science is just not always about quantum physics, its real.” There were also many stalls that were headed by people of many professions, ranging from clinical scientists to surgeons to physiotherapists. This gave all of us an indication in to all the professions in the science world, which we always thought were just narrowed down to doctors and things we saw on Holby City and Grey’s Anatomy. The other occupations we learnt about were virtually unknown to us. This was really valuable to all the teenagers at the conference. We had a chance to question the people with real questions. Asking about the salary, the amount of stress that the job had along with it, the experiences at university and how the profession really was like gave us a valuable insight into the real life of working in the wide world of science. These stalls were very interesting as they had various quizzes and practical that we, ourselves could join in with. Many students found this highly enjoyable. One girl found it,“ so different, its so much better than listening to someone ramble on” Overall, the conference was a highly rewarding experience, with its main aim to show scientists of the future, the real side of science and conveying it to be more than what everyone perceives it to be.
Jessica, Iona, Jamila and Becky, Ellen Wilkinson School, Year 11
On the 15th March, the year 11 separate science girls and the Health and Social Care year 12s from Ellen Wilkinson School attended the school science conference 2007. There was still a slight feeling of confusion in the air as to what it was we were actually attending, but our love of science (and a day off school!) had convinced us to go. When we got there, we were greeted with bags full of freebies and guides of the day. We were slightly distracted by the sight of an ex-chemistry teacher who now teaches at another school! But that was the greatest thing about the day – everyone’s passion for science bringing familiar and strange faces together for the day. When we entered the building, we had to make our way through a hall full of exhibitions, each table covered with freebies. We think it says a lot about the British students when many didn’t find themselves upstairs on time, as they had been taken in by the bribery of the freebies. After the introductory talk and refreshments, our group went off to the basement for the interactive sessions and for the ‘a day in the life of….’ Talks. We attended one on Occupational Therapy, where we learnt how to deal with people who cant even put their own socks on – which resulted in a very amusing performance by one of our pupils as they attempted to use a special device to apply a sock to their foot. We were given a real insight into the different jobs that take place within the NHS, although I get the feeling some people were more interested in picking up the different freebies…lets hope they picked up some useful leaflets at the same time! Some of the activities we took part in at the stands included breath tests, finding the pulse in our feet, and watching a live sample of sperm on a massive screen wired up to a microscope! At 12 we went up to eat lunch, which was fully provided and fully enjoyable. Next came ‘Meat and 2 Veg’ which was informative and quite disturbing. We were all glad to have eaten lunch beforehand; otherwise we don’t think we could have faced it. We learnt a lot about diet and fat, and a lot of our egos were boosted when we heard the stories of the people who walk 3 times the amount they need to, just to avoid mirrors so they don’t have to see their reflection. After, there were more refreshments (aka free food) which we helped ourselves to (excessively). After we all felt sick with cake, we were pointed downstairs to the other set of interactive stands. We wandered around here (shamelessly looking for freebies) and were excited to find stands where you could test ‘patients’ for sickle cell (lab coats, gloves and all), look down peoples ear with a device linked to a tv, and people having ultrasound on their chests. Of course, being a girls school, none of us took part in the last one, but we all watched with great interest as other students had a go (and not just because they were topless). We visited a stall with lots of information on NHS careers, and all took booklets on the jobs we were interested in – we were shocked at just how many jobs were available. We entered a few competitions to win things like t-shirts and chocolate eggs (!), by answering questions on microbiology and other such things. Lastly, we congregated in the main hall for the final speech. Prizes were handed out for the competition winners and a couple of digital cameras for the draw we had all been entered into. Unfortunately, our school didn’t win one but one girl won a box of chocolates for the microbiology quiz. The ending of the day came with Alison Mowbray – an Olympic medallist – coming to the stage and talking to us about the challenges she went through to become what she is now. Before she really took up rowing, she gained a PHD and trained to be a teacher. This showed us that science really can take us anyway we desire. Her talk of determination moved us all and we realised we can do whatever we want to, if we put our mind to it. After we were let out, we went to speak to her and she truly inspired one of our science girls who wanted to take part in the Olympics but recently had an accident that has prevented her from carrying on the dream. Alison talked to her about how she could get support and could well end up in the 2012 Olympics. A brilliant ending to the day for all of us, and then to make the day even better, we realised there was an unclaimed prize – the chocolate egg. As there was only a few of us left, we asked the man who organised it all if we could have it. Our teacher told him that we were her best scientists and let him know how much we loved the subject. He was impressed at our dedication to science and let us have the chocolate egg for our achievements so far. To sum the day up in 5 words, we would say it was: Inspiring, interactive + well worth it. We are all looking forward to carrying on our studies in science, and maybe looking for a NHS job in the future…