Young Science Communicators – Science Show 2022
Our Young Science Communicators was born out of the Young Chemistry Communicators programme and begins with a full day session on Science Communication delivered by Techniquest Glyndwr. This partnership falls under the umbrella group of our Science Communicators Programme.
9 Year 12 pupils at WGS devised and delivered a Science show for 96 pupils from local primary schools and 160 pupils from our Junior School. The Sixth Form students were supported during their preparation by staff members who ensured the educational content, equipment and risk assessments were appropriate. The year 12 students will also deliver a whole school assembly to share their venture and experience with the whole school.
Aims
· To present Science in an accessible way to a younger audience
· To foster a sense of curiosity and passion for Science amongst a younger audience
· To allow the audience to ask questions around the experiments and further develop their knowledge
· To provide an educational visit at no cost for the visiting pupils
· To allow the year 12 pupils to develop their leadership, team working, organisation and communication skills and hopefully submit a report on the experience allowing them to apply for a Gold Crest Award.
Background
WGS established a partnership St James Primary School a few years ago. A staff member is a parent governor at West Didsbury and was keen the link should occur.
Resources
WGS is well resourced and during the day we used our state-of-the-art Art Centre. WGS provide practical equipment, , two teaching staff, nine year12 pupils and 2 technicians. The students met with teachers and technicians whilst designing the show and practiced experiments and prepared risk assessments. On the day the group was supported by an additional team that worked on the lights and sound. Experiments included Flame Tests, Slinkys, Lasers, Van De Graaf, Luminol and the Screaming Jelly Baby. Our Year 12 students also provided a box of equipment for each school to take away to complete some simple experiments in their classrooms. Each visiting pupil was also provided with a drink and a biscuit before they walked back to their school. Our Year 12 pupils will make a small contribution to the cost of the Gold Crest Award fee.
Impact
The expertise and enthusiasm of the Sixth form pupils and staff, combined with Withington’s facilities, created a purposeful learning environment where the young pupils were excited to see the experiments and keen to ask questions around the show. A show of hands at the end of the show showed how positive the experience has been and the visiting staff were also thrilled with the experience. The staff were also delighted with the additional experiments provided as a take away.
The programme also offers the Sixth Form volunteers the chance to develop their communication skills, whilst compounding their knowledge of and passion for science.
All Sixth form pupils taking part also will be applying for a gold crest award from the British Science Association upon completion of the project and writing a complete scientific report.
Pupil Involvement
WGS – 9 Year 12, 2 Teaching staff, 1 Technicians, 2 Technical Team
St James 30 pupils and 4 staff
West Didsbury 56 pupils – 6 staff
WGS Juniors 160 pupils plus staff
Frequency
This project is very similar to previous Chemistry Communicator Shows.