Scientists of the future at primary school

Ightenhill Primary School is now home to the first Ogden Trust Phiz lab in the North West of England.

The lab lab will allow children and teachers from Ightenhill and five other primary schools from the East Lancashire Ogden Primary Science Partnership to experience hands-on physics on a daily basis.

During the afternoon of the Phiz lab launch, pupils from Barnoldswick CE, Gisburn, Lowerhouse Junior, St Thomas CE and Whittlefield primary schools joined pupils from Ightenhill to demonstrate experiments to students, teachers and governors.

Ihgtenhill headteacher Kate Marney said: “It is great to have the Phiz Lab on-site, which will be a dedicated science facility for the cluster schools.

"Together with the training and resources which have been provided through the Ogden Trust, the lab will make science a major focus for the school. We are really excited to have been given this opportunity and judging by the enthusiasm shown by the children and staff from the cluster schools, this is going to make learning about physics lots of fun."

The hard work of Sarah Pearson, lead teacher for Science at Ightenhill, came to fruition this month with the opening of the new lab.

Sarah had been able to buy all of the new science resources to create a positive learning environment for the children. There are lots of events planned to include the community in family learning nights and science fairs.

The partnership was established last year by Michele Yates, the Ogden Trusts’ North West regional representative for primary science, and Michele Grimshaw, North West area mentor.

Michelle said: "The Phiz lab will provide a valuable, practical training room for science teachers, raise the profile of science in the partnership schools and have a positive impact on children's learning in science. They will love wearing lab coats and goggles, and taking part in practical investigations."