Science lesson a real blast at Shropshire school - with video and pictures

Mary Webb School in Pontesbury held a science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) day as part of National Science and Engineering Week.

Students started the day with a visit from a former student who now works at Google, and then went on to do a number of activities in and out of school.

A group of Year 7s went to visit Manchester University, while a group of Year 10s went to Jaguar Land Rover in Wolverhampton.

Year 8 students went to Pontesford Hill, a Shropshire Wildlife nature reserve, and a group of Year 10s were competing in the National Crest finals at the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham.

Deputy headteacher Jo Hall said that in school the rest of Year 7 created "supersonic" cars in the morning then raced them in the afternoon with the help of RAF Cosford as part of the Bloodhound Project to design and build a car that will break the 1,000mph barrier and set a new world land speed record.

Other Year 8 students were in the school hall building and testing electric cars, while Year 10 students were extracting their DNA.

Miss Hall added: "We've got our own team of reporters who are racing around the school reporting on the day's events live with notebooks and cameras.

"We've also got a group of students doing formal Banksy-esque graffiti around the site.

"The 'supersonic' cars are being made from foam cut outs and being launched by a rocket on the back."

This is the 14th year the school has run the STEM day, which Miss Hall said the students really enjoy.

"The kids are fantastic," she added. "They want to do everything we put on.

"It's a really good day where the whole school has to pull together.

"The kids get really stuck in.

"Hopefully there will be a moment that we offer today that makes them go 'yes, I want to do that'.

"We want to open their eyes to the possibilities and show them they can make a difference to their own lives and other peoples'.

"That's why we do this."