Year 13 – by Kane C
On Tuesday 20th September, the Sixth Form biology students attended biomedical workshops at Newcastle University. The workshops began with a short introduction by Dr Debbie Bevitt, then the Year 13 students spent the afternoon at a workshop called ‘Pregnancy and Delivery’, given by Dr Debra Patten and a few of her colleagues and students.
This workshop taught the differences between the male and female pelvis and how the female pelvis is specifically adapted for childbirth. We had the opportunity to have an attempt at delivering a baby using practice dummies in the workshop, which provided a lot of laughter (and embarrassment)! The session was rounded off with a real life video of a woman giving birth, which inspired a mixed reaction from those in the room! However, despite this, it was a very enjoyable and informative experience which boys should be encouraged to try given the opportunity.
Year 12 – by Alfie M
After arriving, and having been through the vigorous process of receiving our brown envelopes full of interesting documentation and a particularly dashing freebie pen, Year 12 began a session entitled ‘The Immune System in Human Disease’.
The session was extremely interesting and offered the chance to use specialist equipment such as centrifuges and micropipettes, which we were warned cost in the region of £500.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting day was had by all.