School partnership: Wickham Market (Phiz Lab)
Published: 14 August 2020
At the opening of our Phiz Lab in Summer 2019, more than 250 pupils from our partnership schools visited to take part in some fantastic hands-on physics, including chromatography, Da Vinci bridge building, building electrical circuits, giant pendulum painting and making basic motors. We had electricity demonstrations using a van der Graaf generator and lit LEDs using an orange as a cell. EDF Energy were also on hand with a workshop to show how we can generate the electricity that we use at home and at school.
Since the opening, the Lab has been used for in-school science lessons (which can now be more experimental-based) and has hosted visiting scientific enrichment speakers. Hands-on activity days run by Anglian water have taught pupils about how waste-water is treated and the importance of being more environmentally friendly – the children got such a lot from this real-world science. We have also had a visitor from the Orwell park observatory who explained all about outer space phenomenon which was amazing!
Partner schools have used the Lab on a regular basis to carry out experiments. One school designed and made bath bombs which they then sold at their Christmas fair. A K’nex STEM challenge was undertaken by all Year 2 and Year 6 pupils from the partnership – STEM ambassadors from industry taught children how to make a working windmill from K’nex and the children then came up with their own amazing ideas.
The Phiz Lab is a wonderful base for science work across our partnership; we have had a great year in the Lab and are looking forward to the next!
Leslie Denny
East Suffolk Partnership (2018–)
Year 5/6 class teacher, Wickham Market Primary School