This annual celebration of Science, which took place nationally between March 10^th and 19^th, aims to raise awareness, spark enthusiasm and celebrate all things Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in a range of settings, from schools to businesses.

The overall theme of this year’s event was ‘Connections’. Using this wide-ranging theme as a starting point, students in Years 7 and 8 enjoyed lessons exploring the physics of electronics by building circuits to function as Morse Code devices. These not only demonstrated the importance of physical connections made through circuitry, they also helped show how connections are made through communication – with students using their devices to send messages to one another. 

Sticking with the theme of Morse Code, a whole-school competition ran throughout the week which saw students tasked with decoding a message hidden in twenty separate parts around the school. Year 11 excelled at this challenge, with four students - Logan Hornsby, Matthew Pitt, Bailey Keyworth and Oliver Troupe – successfully cracking the code to win prizes.

Daisy Gearing, Head of Science, said: “As students learn Science, they also learn about its uses and significance to society and their own lives. This year’s British Science Week had a theme of ‘connections’ which, after Covid isolation, are now more important to us than ever. Students explored connections through the Morse Code activity, and an investigation into the connection between mass and density as part of an experiment to determine whether an object would float or sink. Students fully embraced all activities and helped us to celebrate another successful Science week.”

Earlier the same week, a group of 12 students attended a STEM event at Wilberforce College where they were given a tour of the Science faculty and enjoyed a talk from guest speaker, Dr Catherine Dobson – a Consultant Engineer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Hull. Students were also given the opportunity to gets hands-on with a range of carbon-related experiments.

The visit to Wilberforce’s Science faculty followed a similar visit by Year 10 students earlier in the month when they visited the college to participate in a Women in STEM event. The day provided an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the important contributions made by women and girls in Science and coincided with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science – an annual celebration of the vast contributions that women have made, and continue to make, in the Scientific world.

Both visits were organised by Withernsea High School’s Careers Leader, Viki Foster, who added: “It was great to be invited back to Wilberforce College to take part in their Science Week events. The talk from Dr Catherine Dobson was incredibly engaging, and it was interesting to hear how STEM subjects are used in the world of work.

The experiments were good fun and the students engaged positively with all activities. We would like to thank Martin Walker, Science Technician at Wilberforce College, for inviting us to their recent events and we look forward to further collaborations in the future.”

ABOVE: WHS students enjoy another successful Science visit to Wilberforce College.