To compliment the GCSE Combined/Triple Award Science curriculum the Year 11 pupils visited the Francis Crick Institute in Central London. Ms Khan spoke briefly to the pupils about the significance of the Institute, before they toured the public gallery to view the ‘Hello Brain!’ exhibition.
The Francis Crick Institute is named in celebration of Francis Crick (1916-2004), one of Britain’s great scientists. He is best known for his work with James Watson, which led to the identification of the structure of DNA in 1953. Watson and Crick realised that DNA was made up of two chains of nucleotide pairs that encode the genetic information for all living things.
The institute is one of the largest laboratories in Europe which employs 1,500 scientists working to understand health, disease and how life works.
The pupils have been learning about Homeostasis, the Nervous and Endocrine Systems and Reflex Arcs. The Hello Brain gallery gave pupils a new insight into the marvellous and mysterious world in their heads.
Following this, the pupils also visited the Welcome Collection, a museum and library exploring health and human experience. Pupils first visited the ‘Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights’ gallery, which delved into the stories of underrepresented workers and their rights within precarious and unsafe labour environments. Pupils were able to listen to interactive media, watch videos and look at 150 historical artefacts. They also visited the art exhibition of Jason Wilsher-Mills in ‘Jason and the Adventure of 254’. This was his largest and most personal commission to date. It is a joyful exploration of the body which draws on the artist’s experience of becoming disabled as a child. We learnt about his personal journey from his bed in hospital when he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
The pupils were absolutely incredible! They showed maturity and adapted well to the different environments they were in. We spoke about careers in science, options at A-levels and specifically Biomedical Sciences. It was a good day for all.
One pupil said: ‘I thought the Institute would be boring, but it was anything but. There was so much to see and it really brought the things we have been learning about in our Science lessons to life.’