A GROUP of sixth form science students from Chipping Campden School are celebrating being the first in the country to be awarded a British Science Association (BSA) award for their science clubs.

The students have each been awarded a Gold CREST award for their innovative yearlong ‘science communication’ project with local primary schools. CREST is a project-based award scheme for science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.

The school, which has a national reputation for the teaching of science, had been asked to pilot the Gold Award scheme for the BSA, which involved running 10 afterschool science clubs at five local primary schools. Sessions were full of practical science and 70 primary pupils enjoyed lessons on topics ranging from static electricity to the solar system.

Altogether 24 sixth form students received a Silver CREST Award for their part in the project and the five Gold award winners took the project a step further by adding a research element to the project and reporting on their findings.

In addition to giving young people the opportunity to undertake hands-on science, the CREST Awards programme also builds skills that are transferable to other subjects, further education and future employment by providing the opportunity to learn about time management, project management, teamwork and communication.

Maria Rossini, Education Partnerships Manager for the British Science Association, said: “CREST has been rewarding and celebrating excellent project work in the UK for almost 30 years and we've had some amazingly creative projects over that time.

What makes the project at Chipping Campden School special is the way that the older students are developing their science and communication skills alongside helping younger ones in a really meaningful way. We don't get many high-quality 'science communication' CREST projects - and theirs was outstanding. In fact their work is pretty unique."

Jackie Flaherty, Head of Physics at Chipping Campden School, and who jointly devised the project with the Ogden Trust and the BSA, said: “The school is enormously proud of all our science students’ achievements and congratulate them on receiving their Silver and Gold CREST awards. We are seeking to educate excellent scientists with outstanding communication skills who can dispel the misconceptions about science. I would also like to acknowledge the invaluable support of The Ogden Trust which funds our science club scheme with local primary schools.”