Over the two days, our Year 10 students both at Wakefield Girls’ and QEGS have been hosting Year 5 students from local primary schools and our own Junior schools, and running practical science activities for students to enjoy and build on their science knowledge. This annual event, known colloquially as ‘SPLATS’ (Students Participating Learning and Teaching Science), is a much-loved opportunity for our Senior students to develop confidence in their presentation skills and work with younger students, and for Year 5 students to enjoy interactive, engaging science experiences.

Our Year 10 students received training from Sphere Science, who are the leading providers of practical school science activities in the UK –  guiding them on how to carry out the experiments, and how to help the Year 5 children to fully absorb the science behind the fun activities. 

In total 213 Year 5 children attended our SPLATS event – 85 of Year 5 students from both Wakefield Girls’ and QEGS Junior schools, alongside 128 students from local primary schools in Wakefield – Badsworth C of E J & I School, Cawthorne C of E Primary, Newton Hill Community School, Outwood Primary Academy Greenhill, and St. John’s CE (VA) J & I School. All the groups of Year 5 students were mixed, so it was a lovely few days for the students to meet new acquaintances and work together on science projects.

They participated in six activities: Marble runs, Flames, Rollers, Kites, Earth and Space, and Solar circuits. The activities encouraged the children to problem solve – as they worked together to find alternative solutions to science problems, thinking laterally about why certain factors might be impacting the output of circuit boards or flame size. At the end of each activity the children were encouraged to reflect on the science behind the activities, and they discussed with the Year 10 students why their experiments were successful or unsuccessful, and what makes a scientific experiment valid or not invalid.

The event was a brilliant success, with all the Year 5 students really seeming to enjoy themselves, especially in the lovely weather. We believe this annual event is hugely beneficial not only to our visiting Year 5 students, who experience hands-on science activities which develop science enquiry and investigation skills; but also for our Year 10 students who develop confidence in presentation, communication, planning and organisational skills.

Well done and thank you to our Year 10 students for your hard work over the past two days: Aamina, Alice, Amelia, Annabel, Arianna, Charlotte, Edie, Ella, Ellie, Freya, Haimee, Hareem, Ife, Isra, Sascha, Sophia, Tara, and Tilly. We hope you enjoyed the experience!

Mr C Murtland

SPLATS Coordinator