Our Upper Third students are very clear about how important it is to consider our impact on the environment. As part of their science activity this week they have been learning about the ‘growing’ life of products.

In lessons, we made a plastic rope from damaged plastic bags, giving them a new life and a new purpose: our rope was able to support up to 5kg with 2 small strips!

In the STEM club,  pupils have really enjoyed turning used paper into new, recycled sheets, ready to be used again in another project.

This week the students become the real protagonists of their own learning, developing the ability to make decisions, seek clear goals, find the source of problems and devise answers for themselves. As in the case of Josh, our former student, we have no doubt that in the future we will meet many of his achievements.

Upper Third students have been combining their creativity and scientific knowledge by making 3D models of cells in STEM club and at home!

Many of our former students are now working in laboratories, universities, innovation centres and similar institutions. They come from very different backgrounds and their ways of working as scientists are varied. This week we were honoured to receive a visit from one of them.

As part of Science Week, former Bedian Josh O’Connor visited the College. He shared his career journey since leaving St Bede’s with some of our Lower and Upper Fifth students pupils.

After studying Chemical Engineering at Birmingham University, Josh worked for Mondelez (Cadbury’s parent company) planning how to make chocolate as tasty as possible. After this, he joined Jaguar Landrover as a Solutions Engineer. He works in the company’s “Data Warehouse” using his creativity and interpersonal skills, as well as his knowledge of programming and IT infrastructure, to solve problems across the company. He pointed out that he started learning some of these skills by running the Science Club at St Bede’s and how they cut across the academic subjects studied at school.

Josh would be happy to talk to any students who are interested in learning more about careers in IT or STEM. Please contact Mr Hepburn or Ms Wakwima if you would like us to pass on any questions.

Science Week in the Prep has been fabulous. Pupils have really enjoyed all the different activities, investigations and challenges that have been set by their teachers.

In Nursery Class the children planted seeds and grew cress. When it was ready, they made their own delicious cress sandwiches and ate them.

Reception Class has been very busy learning all about ‘New Life’. They found out about the life-cycle of a butterfly and observed some live caterpillars in class. They also enjoyed learning about growth and have planted some sunflower seeds with a competition in class to find out which one grows the tallest!

On Monday Prep 1 explored the gardens to see what plants were growing.

In STEM Club the children took on the whole school ‘Growth’ challenge. Mrs Prince discussed the growing population all around the world and the fact that there was no land left to build houses or expand outwards so now people are building up. Their challenge was to build the tallest construction using spaghetti and marshmallows. The results were interesting and it was amazing to see how the children devised a plan and let their imaginations run free. Not all the marshmallows were used in construction!

St. Bede’s College places special emphasis on the teaching of science, as it helps to foster critical thinking, analysis and problem-solving skills in our students. It also, in the long term, ensures an innate interest in knowledge and possibly a successful career. Therefore, in this week dedicated to science, we are proud to have seen the enthusiasm and curiosity shown by each student to experiment, investigate and learn new things in the Chemistry Olympiad.

Congratulations to Anna and Jessica in Upper Sixth on achieving a silver and a bronze certificate respectively in the National Chemistry Olympiad 2022. What a fantastic way to kick off our celebrations for British Science Week!

Pupils took part in a treasure hunt looking for elements around the school. Some staff chose to dress up – others have hidden clues around their classroom.

Staff dressing certainly fulfilled its aim of getting pupils excited and talking about science! The Sixth Form were also invited to join in and get involved and featured a (Freddy) Mercury and a friendly ‘Copper’!

We had almost 100 entries into the Periodic Table treasure hunt and the winners were…
Overall – Dara (L5 Bosco) and Shula (L5 Siena) – HUGE 35 Points
House winners – Danielle (U3 Magdalene) and Eniola (U3 Campion)
Most entries per form U3DVS – 12 of them entered!

Congratulations to all who entered – an excellent effort was made by lots of pupils to identify as many members of staff that they could.

Mrs R Prince