Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (NCEAT) has celebrated the start of the new academic year with the launch of four new primary schools.

The multi academy trust, which operates across South East Northumberland, has successfully demerged its 1,500 pupil primary academy to create five separate primary schools in their own right, ready for the start of the Autumn term.

The project, which has been completed in close collaboration with the Department for Education, local authorities and the local community, will see the schools become more firmly embedded in the local communities they serve, while continuing to benefit from being a part of a wider academy trust.

Each new school will have its own, simplified admissions system and its own Headteacher. In line with current Government funding allowances, it is expected that the demerger will also bring an additional £250,000 to the schools this academic year to support investment in teaching and learning resources, such as IT equipment and books.

Alan Hardie, Chief Executive Officer at NCEAT, commented:

“At the end of August, we received the final permission needed from the Department for Education (DfE) to split the former Bishop’s Primary School into five separate schools.

“At NCEAT we are dedicated to providing the highest quality learning experiences for our pupils and we felt that this would be best achieved through the creation of a family of primary schools which would sit firmly at the heart of their local communities while retaining all of the benefits of working together as part of our Trust.

“This has been a huge project for NCEAT staff, in consultation with parents and carers, local authorities and members of our community so we’re absolutely delighted that the demerger has gone ahead successfully. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly welcome Grace Darling C of E Primary, James Knott C of E Primary, Thomas Bewick C of E Primary and William Leech C of E Primary into the Trust as new schools.”

The successful demerger has doubled NCEAT’s portfolio of schools in the Northumberland area. The Trust, which was founded in 2009, also comprises Warkworth C of E Primary School, Duke’s Secondary School and Castle School, a speciality school for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

An interactive, multimedia exhibition based on the North East’s experience of coronavirus and what it’s been like for people in our communities to ‘live through history’ is going on tour this summer.

Created by students at Duke’s Secondary School in Ashington (Part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust), the ‘Pan@NCEA’ project combines elements of the STEM curriculum (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) as well as Art, Design, Media and Languages to tell the story of the pandemic; the different stages we have experienced and how these experiences have varied from person to person and place to place.

The whole school has been involved in aspects of the project, from taking part in activities during science lessons and tutor time to support the conceptual research, to the physical construction of the exhibition itself.

Comprising three large art installations to visually represent the three scientific stages of the pandemic from its discovery back in December 2019 through to the present day and the rollout of the vaccine, the exhibition also features audio visual elements including sound recordings of students and contacts from around the world, as well as interviews with Duke’s Secondary School’s Principal, Mr Russ Atkinson and Father Laurence Freeman, Director of The World Community for Christian Meditation.

Interactive activities on offer as part of the exhibition include real-life X-Rays to show healthy lungs versus lungs infected by Covid-19, an experiment to demonstrate how the lateral flow test works and the specificity of the vaccine and a very special Covid-19 virus DNA model.

Dr Jodi Harrison, Academic Mentor at Duke’s Secondary School, has led on the project for the students, she said:

“We’re so excited to take our Pan@NCEA project on tour through the summer. Coronavirus has been the single biggest challenge that many of our young people have ever had to face – causing disruption to both their education and their personal development over the past 18 months. While many people simply want to put the pandemic behind them, we felt it was important to really explore the impact of Covid-19 on a scientific, economic and historic level to fully appreciate the gravitas of what we’ve lived through.

“The students threw themselves into the challenge and worked incredibly hard to create something which is truly reflective of not just their own experience of coronavirus, but of the experience of our communities as a collective.

“As word got around about what we were trying to achieve, we were overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from external providers and we’re incredibly grateful to our sponsors Ashington Town Council, YMCA Northumberland, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC Local Section – Newcastle upon Tyne and North East Coast (NuTNEC)) and Newbiggin Maritime Centre.

“Through this network, we have been able to source personal recordings from people living on each continent (except Antarctica!) to give a flavour of what life in lockdown was like on an international scale.”

Dr Neil D. Graham, Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry Local Section (NuTNEC), commented:

“The Newcastle-upon-Tyne and North East Coast Local Section of the Royal Society of Chemistry is always happy to support efforts made by students and teachers to advance their understanding and knowledge in chemistry and it’s real-world applications. This is especially true when efforts are made to share this knowledge with others.”

The grand opening of the exhibition will be taking place over two days starting from Saturday 14 August 2021 at YMCA Northumberland in Ashington, followed by a residency at the Newbiggin Maritime Centre between Tuesday 17 August and Saturday 4 September, and culminating in a very special display at Newcastle Cathedral on Sunday 19 September.

To find out more about the project, visit www.dukes@ncea.org.uk or email pan@ncea.org.uk.

To help our new cohort of Year 7 pupils to transition smoothly to Duke’s Secondary School in September, staff at Duke’s have put together an exciting Summer School programme for pupils to enjoy!

Taking place between 19th-23rd July, our Summer School programme is packed full of fantastic, fun activities to help the new Year 7s to get better acquainted with their new school and make some new friends along the way!

See details below…

For more information, see: https://dukes.ncea.org.uk/summer-school-2021/

If anyone has any questions about Duke’s summer school programme, please contact Mrs A Mitcheson on 01670 816111 ext. 358 or email ashleigh.mitcheson@dukes.ncea.org.uk.

A teacher at a school in South East Northumberland for children and young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) is helping pupils to take miraculous steps towards a better, more independent way of living by getting creative with items typically found around the house.

Gillian Robinson, a primary teacher at Castle School, has introduced the concept of ‘Active Learning’ into her classroom to help give a sense of freedom back to pupils who are typically dependent on those around them to support their needs.

Devised by Danish psychologist, Dr Lilli Nielson, as a solution for teaching children with visual impairments, Active Learning has adapted over the years and is now recognised as beneficial to children and young people with a wide range of severe and multiple disabilities.

Gillian first came across the approach during lockdown while researching ways to better manage the complex range of needs within her classroom to ensure that while individuals’ medical, hygiene and feeding needs were attended to, that the rest of her class remained stimulated.

Using everyday items such as buckets, A-frames, Tupperware boxes, blackout curtains and plumber’s piping, Gillian has created a sensory paradise for her learners to support their mobility and cognitive skill development, alongside their emotional and social wellbeing.

“Many children with profound and complex needs develop ‘learnt helplessness’ – the idea that they have no control over their environment, so they learn to wait patiently and that eventually, someone will provide them with what they need. Over time, this kind of behaviour can lead to passiveness where children stop communicating altogether,” Gillian commented.

“Active Learning is designed to encourage the children to do things for themselves, it teaches children how to interact with their environment and explore their immediate space with confidence and shows them how their actions can affect the things around them.”

While specialist equipment to support Active Learning is available, many of the manufacturers are based in the United States, which makes sourcing equipment tricky and expensive – luckily, Gillian is quite creative.

“Lilli Nielson recognised that children with sensory and physical impairments needed to be taught to explore the space around them using all of their body,” said Gillian.

“A few of the children in my class have very limited movement and rely on specialist positional equipment like wheelchairs or work chairs, which can make accessing sand and water trays, foot spas and play spaces very difficult.

“By combing the internet, I was able to find designs for DIY versions of almost all of the resources I needed to bring Active Learning to life in the classroom in a way which would meet the very specific needs of my pupils.

“I made my own waterfall curtain out of plumbers piping and a window blind cord with small bells added onto the end; our echo bucket is simply a metal bucket with holes cut into it attached to a rope pulley system so I can lower it over children sitting in wheelchairs. Our A-frames and wall-mounted sensory boards are made from materials found at B&Q and the voice activated light box is just a large Tupperware container lined with some reflective foil and fitted with a disco light that reacts to bass sounds – which has made a huge difference to our non-verbal children, showing them that using their voice has a purpose and will be listened to.

“After some searching, I was even able to find a design to make accessible foot exploration trays from decking boards which the children can use while in their work chairs to help them develop awareness and purposeful movement of their feet.”

Sara Wild, Principal at Castle School, commented:

“We’ve been amazed by the improvements shown by some of the children in Gillian’s class since the introduction of Active Learning into their daily lessons.

“One child, who was quite disengaged and spent a lot of his floor time curled up and actively turning away from interactions and resources now reaches out to explore things around him in lots of different environments and his engagement in his exploration is really focused. He also has much better use of his voice to attract attention. Another, who uses a walking frame to aid his mobility, has made remarkable improvements, going from being unmotivated to move around and reluctant to take steps to now showing huge resilience and persistence when moving around large spaces to reach the toys and resources he wants to engage with.

“The success of the Active Learning initiative in Gillian’s class has seen us make time in our curriculum for Active Learning across Castle School, with Gillian taking the lead on training our teachers and support staff. We’re incredibly proud of what Gillian has achieved and can’t wait to see more of our children benefit from the programme.”

Castle School is a specialist provision for children and young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Operating as part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, the school offers places for pupils aged 2-19 at its purpose-built campus in Ashington.

For more information, visit www.castle.ncea.org.uk. 

Pupils enjoying Active Learning at Castle School

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

On 23/06/21, schools and colleges across the UK marked ‘National Thank a Teacher Day’.

While almost any member of staff who works in a school will tell you that they’re doing what they love and that they don’t need any recognition – in the aftermath of what has been a challenging year for everyone in education, our staff across the Trust were humbled by the lovely notes, gifts, drawings and paintings that were sent into school.

“We would like to share our thanks and appreciation to our wonderful pupils, who will always be our greatest teacher.”

Here are just some of the wonderful notes and pieces of artwork that were sent to our staff…

Click on any photo to view images in a slideshow.

Castle School

Duke’s Secondary School

Bishop’s Primary School – Josephine Butler Campus

21-25 June is School Diversity Week. Organised each year by the ‘Just Like Us’ charity, the week is designed to celebrate LGBT+ equality in education.

At NCEAT, we are proud to be inclusive and across our schools, we do all we can to educate our children and young people and help them to be true to themselves. Here’s just a taste of the different activities that have been taking place throughout the week:

Bishop’s Primary – William Leech Campus

As part of Diversity Week, children at William Leech Campus have been exploring how we are all wonderfully different through a new collection of books in our library.

The books tell stories and explore themes such as stereotypes, being yourself, equality and diversity.  They have really helped children to think about the language they use and to support everyone regardless of what they look like, their interests or their family background.

The books are currently in the library to share as a class or small group but will be available to borrow after this week.

Warkworth Primary School

Pupils at Warkworth Primary have taken Diversity Week a step further and are enjoying an entire Pride Month! Classes have decorated their windows using chalk paint with rainbows and messages of love and support for the initiative. As part of their school transition exercise in partnership with Duchess High School in Alnwick, the Year 6 pupils have also been busy making pom poms to create a giant pom pom rainbow to go on display at the school.

Click on any of the thumbnails below to view images as a slideshow.

Duke’s Secondary School
A former Duke’s student, who now works as a drag artist known as ‘Pia Pressure’, created a special video message for Duke’s pupils about their own experiences at school, why they do drag and why events like School Diversity Week and Pride are so important for educating our young people about the LGBTQ+ community.

As Coronavirus restrictions across most of the UK continue to ease, a Northumberland farm has opened its doors for its first educational visits since the pandemic began more than a year ago.

Broxfield Farm, a working cattle and wheat farm based near Alnwick in Northumberland, welcomed Reception pupils from Bishop’s Primary School as part of a ‘Farm Discovery’ programme organised through national education charity, The Country Trust.

Designed to help children from urban areas to gain access to the countryside and learn more about the important role that agriculture plays in our food supply chain, the visits offer a unique way for children to learn about nature, the food they eat and how the countryside works – at a level tailored to their own age and understanding.

Over the course of two days, pupils from Bishop’s Primary School’s Josephine Butler and William Leech Campuses respectively descended on Broxfield Farm, where David Thompson and his family have tended the land for more than 200 years.

The pupils, aged 4-5, spent the days learning about food and farming and the connection between the two. They enjoyed a ride through the fields on a purpose-built passenger trailer, tried their hand at feeding some of the Aberdeen Angus suckler cows, including Pip and Dallas the bulls, milled their own flour from grains of wheat and enjoyed a nature trail through the ‘enchanted forest’ which surrounds the farmland.

Vicky Dewar, Deputy Director of Early Years at Bishop’s Primary School, commented:

“Due to Covid restrictions, our youngest learners have missed out on so much. Under normal circumstances, our early years curriculum at Bishop’s Primary is packed full with day trips and experiences for the children to enjoy as part of their learning, so it was wonderful to be able to finally get back to some kind of ‘normal’ and take our Reception pupils out on their first ever educational visit to the farm.

“For some of our children, this visit was their first experience of the countryside. Getting to see farm animals up close and just enjoy all of the open space is so important for their personal development and wellbeing, especially after so long in lockdown. We’re incredibly grateful to Farmer David for having us and to The Country Trust for making it possible.”

David Thompson has been heavily involved with the charity for over 20 years and hosts many visits to Broxfield each year. He said:

“It’s been great to welcome school trips back to the farm again. Over the years, I’ve worked with schools from all across the North East, hosting visits for pupils from Reception age, right up to Year 6. With each age group, the activities remain largely the same, the ‘pitch’ is what varies. With the little ones, it’s about helping them to explore the countryside safely and teaching them about the things which live and grow on a farm, whereas with older children, you can get into more detail about environmental concerns and the idea of food traceability.

“I was so impressed with the pupils from Bishop’s Primary School. For being so young, they were so engaged and attentive and asked some great questions. On both days that the pupils visited, new calves had just been born, which was a real bonus – to be able to show the children hours-old animals. They were amazed that the baby cows could already walk! A great time was had by all and I look forward to welcoming more pupils throughout the summer.”

Bishop’s Primary School operates as part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (NCEAT), a multi-academy Trust for pupils aged 2-19.

For more information visit bishops.ncea.org.uk or to learn more about The Country Trust, visit www.countrytrust.org.uk.

A generous donation towards books and resources is helping early years’ pupils at a Northumberland primary school to play ‘catch up’ in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Young learners aged between two and four years who attend Bishop’s Primary School’s early years’ facilities have received special ‘Story Sacks’ filled with books, educational games and learning resources to enjoy at home thanks to a £2,000 donation from Newcastle Diocese Mothers’ Union.

Mothers’ Union is a Church of England affiliated organisation with over four million members worldwide, whose primary aim is to support Christian family life and the nurture of children.

When the pandemic first hit, Mothers’ Union members realised that children’s development, especially those in isolated communities or areas of high socio-economic deprivation, would be particularly affected by an extended period of lockdown.

With over 900 members in the Newcastle Diocese area alone, the charity’s Diocesan President, Barbara Packer, wanted to explore how the charity could best support the children deemed most in need throughout Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland.

Barbara said: “Since we are a Church of England organisation, I approached the Diocesan Education Department for advice as to the best way to help children in our Church communities to gain access to educational resources which would support their development in the aftermath of lockdown.

“The department suggested Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust and more specifically, Bishop’s Primary School. We had already decided that we could afford to give £2,000 and that we would be guided by ‘those on the ground’ as to the best way to use it.”

Trustees from the charity were directed towards Bishop’s Primary School’s Principal, Melanie Hinson, who launched a staff consultation to determine who would benefit most from the initiative.

“Staff agreed that it was our early years children whose education had been most affected by the prolonged period of lockdown,” Melanie commented.

“While our older children have been able to engage in a full programme of remote learning, for our two and three year olds, the lack of interaction with children their own age has seen them return to our early years settings less confident, more anxious and in some cases, less independent than they were before.

“Liaising with Mothers’ Union, we agreed that ‘Story Sacks’ – or something similar – seemed to be a good way in which quite a lot of children could benefit, and receive resources which could be used at home to support their speech and language development, fine motor skills and confidence building among other things.

“The Story Sacks have been really well received by staff, parents and our young learners. We can’t thank Mothers’ Union enough for their kind donation.”

Serving South East Northumberland with campuses across Ashington, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and Lynemouth, Bishop’s Primary School (part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust) is one of the largest primary academies in the region, with over 1,600 pupils aged 2-11.

With early years provisions based at four out of its five campuses, Bishop’s Primary is an early-adopter of the new EYFS framework for high-quality early learning.

For more information, visit www.bishops.ncea.org.uk or to find out more about Mothers’ Union, see www.mothersunion.org.

Spring has sprung at an Ashington primary school following a generous donation from a local garden centre.

Wansbeck Garden Centre has kindly pledged hundreds of bedding plants to Bishop’s Primary School’s Josephine Butler Campus for use in its flower garden.

The flower garden, which is tended by pupils as part of the school’s ‘Gardening Gang’ is the centrepiece of the Academy Road-based campuses’ outdoor space; which also comprises a potted courtyard, a poly tunnel and an allotment area, complete with its own chickens, rabbit and ducks.

Using the donated plants, the children decided to update a planted version of the school’s logo using a mix of Stokesia and Lobelia to capture the purple and yellow colours of the Bishop’s crest.

“Our Gardening Gang is an immensely popular part of our enrichment and mental health and wellbeing programmes at Josephine Butler,” said Mrs Clare Marriott, Head of Campus at Bishop’s Primary School – Josephine Butler Campus.

“The children enjoy working outdoors and seeing the difference that their work makes to the garden. It’s also a great opportunity for us to teach the children about the importance of looking after the natural world around them.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the staff at Wansbeck Garden Centre for their kind donation of so many flowers! It’s really allowed our children to be creative and we’ve had so many compliments from staff and parents about the work the children do outdoors. These generous donations mean we can continue to develop our curriculum and the community links that are so important to us.”

Nic Crofts, Plant Manager at Wansbeck Garden Centre, commented:

“At Wansbeck Garden Centre, we pride ourselves on being an active part of our local community and regularly work with schools and other not-for-profit groups.

“We’ve had an unseasonably cold start to the year, which has meant that many of our plants which would usually have gone flying off the shelves have been sitting in our greenhouses. We would rather see these go to good use than get wasted, so we were delighted to support Josephine Butler’s Gardening Gang with their flower display.”

Bishop’s Primary School – Josephine Butler Campus operates as part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (NCEAT).

For more information, visit bishops.ncea.org.uk.

A top London security firm boss, whose bodyguards protect the rich and famous, has stepped in to support the Northumberland primary school which set him on the road to success.

A former Major in the British Army Reserve, Bob Morrison, owner of Mayfair-based Sec-Tech, now provides close protection for VIPs from the UK and abroad and advises on personal and corporate security.

But over the years he has also kept a watchful eye on his former school, Lynemouth Country Primary School, now named Bishop’s Primary School – William Leech Campus, which operates as part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (NCEAT).

And, when he learned it had applied to the Greggs Foundation Breakfast Club, which provides a nutritious pre-school breakfast for primary pupils, he stepped in to help, providing two years’ worth of sponsorship.

Bob, whose father Jim Morrison ran the Post Office at 47 Albion Terrace from 1958 until 1987, attended Lynemouth County Primary School from 1963-69 before moving, at age 10, to King Edward VI Grammar School, Morpeth.

He said: “I received a great education at Lynemouth CP School and it has served me well throughout my life.

“It’s helped me achieve many things – 22 years with the Territorial Army in the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Logistics Corps, a commission at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and even an Honours Degree in International Business Studies with French and German – for which I am eternally grateful.

“For me, the opportunity to sponsor the Breakfast Club at my old school is simply a wonderful way to say thank you and it was also a pleasure to work with Greggs Foundation who made the whole process really easy.

“I know that there are other schools that could benefit, and I really hope more businesses will get on board and support this fantastic initiative.”

Amy Thompson, Head of Campus at Bishop’s Primary School – William Leech Campus, commented:

“We have been completely blown away by Bob’s generosity toward our school.

“As the cost of living has gone up and more recently, as Covid-19 has seen more and more people go without a full-time regular income, many of our families have found it increasingly difficult to fund their children’s place at breakfast club.

“Breakfast is such an important meal for kick-starting children’s metabolism and making sure that they’re properly ‘awake’, so being able to ensure that all of our pupils have eaten well before they begin their lessons each day is fantastic. It improves their attention span and their levels of concentration and also their overall behaviour in the classroom.

“On behalf of all of the staff and pupils, I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Bob and his team at Sec-Tech, as well as the team at the Greggs Foundation, for helping to make this possible.”

Lynne Hindmarch, Greggs Foundation, Breakfast Club Manager, commented:

“We currently support over 620 breakfast clubs nationally in areas of high disadvantage. The need is even greater due to COVID-19 as families who have always just about managed now find themselves in difficult circumstances asking for help for the first time.

“As part of Greggs Pledge, we hope to have 680 schools open by the end of 2021. We cannot do this alone and by working collaboratively with 106 wonderful partners such as Sec-Tech, we are able to support 40,000 children each school day access a FREE nutritional breakfast who otherwise might go without.”

To find out more about the programme please visit www.greggsfoundation.org.uk/breakfast-clubs.

For more information about Sec-Tech visit https://sectech-uk.com/.

This Friday (2 April), as well as celebrating Good Friday, within Castle School, NCEA Trust’s specialist school for children and young people with learning disabilities, and across the wider Trust, we’re also celebrating World Autism Awareness Day.

Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the collective name given to a range of conditions, characterised by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours and communication.

Autistic people may find it hard to communicate with others, struggle to comprehend emotions, become anxious in unfamiliar surroundings and find things like loud noises and bright lights overwhelming.

Being diagnosed as autistic does not stop individuals from living a full and happy life, however the nature of Autism may affect focus, attention, transitions, organisation, memory, time management and emotional control – everything we do in life involves these skills, which can make life for people with Autism a huge challenge, especially school-age children.

Celebrating individuality

The acclaimed photographer, Stephen Shore once said: “If you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism.”

Every child or young person diagnosed as autistic will have their own unique abilities, interests and learning styles which is why at Castle School, we strive to ensure we provide the best support possible by creating a personalised curriculum, appropriate to the needs of each pupil.

At Castle School, our pupils are at the heart of everything we do and we always respect the children and what is important to them. People with Autism work best in structured environments which are laid out in such a way that the room, and the things in it, tell them what is going to happen. Schedules or work systems which ‘tell’ students what to do are also really helpful to ensure that they can see how much they have to do, the order in which they have to do it and when they will be finished, so there are no surprises.

Many of our Autistic pupils have special interests and it is important that throughout the day that they have the opportunity to pursue and enjoy activities which promote these interests, however we also support children to try new things in a safe environment to help broaden their horizons.

Ensuring every pupil has a voice

Many autistic children find it hard to communicate their thoughts and feelings and have difficulty developing the language skills needed to understand and respond effectively to what others say to them. They also often have difficulty communicating non-verbally, through things such as hand gestures, eye contact and facial expressions.

Supporting our pupils to develop effective communication strategies is a key part of what we do in school, supported by our fantastic Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists from the NHS.

We use a wide range of approaches throughout the school, from Makaton to Communication Boards, to ensure that our children and young people are supported and can always make their voices heard.

The language of Autism

Last year, the North East Autism Society (NEAS) led a campaign to change the conversations we have around Autism from ‘awareness’ to ‘acceptance’. Why ‘acceptance’? Surely there’s no-one out there who wouldn’t be accepting of someone simply because they’re autistic?

The idea behind the campaign was to change the narrative from one of passive understanding to active comprehension. Awareness, especially in the digital age, can be damaging. There’s so much misinformation available at the click of a button. Acceptance on the other hand requires a commitment to learn, to make changes, to understand and to not see any adjustments as doing anyone a favour – instead it’s about collectively creating a world where we can all thrive.

Celebrating inclusivity

One of the three original schools which made up Northumberland Church of England Academy prior to its devolution to a Multi-Academy Trust in 2009, Castle School shares its main entrance with Bishop’s Primary School’s Josephine Butler Campus and Duke’s Secondary School.

Although we do have staggered start and finish times to ensure that our pupils who don’t respond well to busy environments have enough space to move through the entrance without delays, it is wonderful to see how pupils from the other schools interact together.

There can be times when some Castle pupils may be very anxious and at these moments, Castle staff will always take time to reassure pupils from Duke’s and Bishop’s, explain what’s going on and answer any questions they may have, but for the most part, they are very accepting and willing to offer help where needed.

Sara Wild, Principal at Castle School, commented:

“At Castle School, we’re passionate about creating a safe and caring environment where our pupils can express their individuality while learning vital social and communication skills to support them to live better, more independent lives.

“Each and every one of our pupils who has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder is unique and talented in their own special way. We learn as much from them as they learn from us and we’re proud to join in the celebration of their individuality on World Autism Awareness Day.”

To find out more about Castle School, visit www.castle.ncea.org.uk.

Ask any millennial what they think of when you say the word ‘scientist’ and they will probably give you a description of an Einsteinesque figure wearing thick glasses and a white lab coat, tinkering with some chemicals or perhaps a microscope.

While there have been men and women, both old and young, of all races, shapes and sizes making incredible scientific discoveries for generations, the typecast of a scientist almost always comes back to the white, middle-aged man.

This British Science Week (5-14 March 2021) Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust is backing the #SmashingStereotypes campaign to show just how diverse the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) sectors actually are, and shine a light on some of the amazing career opportunities to be had within the industry.

Meet Danny – a girl in science

Daniela “Danny” Schnitzler is a 27-year old PhD student at the University of Edinburgh.

Originally hailing from Vienna, Austria, Danny came to the UK to complete her undergraduate studies in Physiology at the University of Aberdeen before moving to the Scottish capital to pursue her doctorate.

Having nurtured an interest in science from an early age, Danny always knew she wanted to do something ‘a bit different’ when she grew up.

“My parents instilled a real love of learning in me from an early age,” Danny said.

“They took me museums, encouraged me to read and watch documentaries – the first DVD I ever owned was BBC’s ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’. I watched it on repeat!

“I really wanted to be an archaeologist when I was little, but it was my natural curiosity about how things work which eventually pushed me toward biology.”

‘Learn the book and you’ll be ok’

Growing up in Vienna, where the school system is quite different to what we know in the UK, Danny was provided with a good, all-round education in a wide variety of subjects, although she confesses that her “terrible” biology teacher did nothing to further her interest in science.

“The curriculum in Austria isn’t very flexible. Everyone studies the same subjects until they’re 15 then you get to choose from just two academic routes – Mathematical where you can do 3D drawing and Italian; or Language, where you can study Latin and French. You don’t drop any subjects, these just get added to your timetable until you leave school at 18.

“I loved school for the learning, but the system was just so restrictive, there wasn’t the same level of opportunities for girls and boys.

“Although I enjoyed most subjects, I was still drawn towards science, but this was more to do with my parents’ encouragement than my teacher’s – my biology teacher in particular was so uninspiring, it was just a case of ‘learn the book and you’ll be ok’.”

“I’ve never been easily grossed out, except by little dead fish!”

Despite this, Danny was accepted onto the undergraduate Masters programme in Physiology (the study of how the body works) at the University of Aberdeen. Over the course of five years, Danny worked towards her MSci degree, gaining industry experience along the way which helped her to realise that she preferred the academic research element of biology more than its practical application in industry.

“There were too many constraints in a commercial lab environment and although the salary would have been undoubtedly much better, I wanted the freedom to explore ideas.

“I’ve never been easily grossed out, except by little dead fish, so working with live tissues in order to better understand how the human body works was always something that I knew I could do, I just needed to narrow in on a field of study.”

“I’ll be a Doctor when I graduate, but the Ross Gellar kind, not a GP!”

PhD projects are typically put forward by the government or a charity, who will then fund a student to conduct research. In Danny’s case, it was a project suggested by her supervisor that saw Danny relocate to Edinburgh to commence her research into the impact of stress during pregnancy in mammals and the likelihood of the offspring developing anxiety in later life.

“It’s a really fascinating piece of work – there’s lots of research but also a big practical element too,” Danny explained.

“I spend a lot of time in the University lab, conducting experiments and analysing data. At the moment, I’m studying my research model in rats, looking at the behaviour of pregnant females in different environments where they’re exposed to stress and then studying their offspring to denote any behavioural changes as they mature.

“Lots of people think that animal testing is cruel and inhumane, but it’s a necessary part of the progression of science. Without it, we wouldn’t find cures for diseases and we certainly wouldn’t have been able to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine as fast as we did.

“The UK actually has the best standards in the world for the use of animals in laboratory environments. Every practitioner needs to be registered and every experimental plan needs to be pre-approved by a vet. It’s so closely regulated, everything needs to be justified and recorded.”

That’s not to say that to have a career in science that you have to perform experiments using animals. There are a wide range of different study areas within biology alone which look at things like plants, viruses, bacteria and drug development.

“If you’re curious about how things work, then science could be a good choice for you”

When asked what advice she would give to a young person thinking about pursuing a career in the sciences, Danny said: “It can be daunting at the age of 15/16 when you’re choosing your options to really think about what you want to do in the future. I’d say, if you’re curious about how things work, then science could be a good choice for you. Plus, there are so many different paths you can go down with science, you can adapt as you go, so there’s no such thing as ‘wrong’ choice.

“Another thing I’d say is, lots of people think that science is all academic, but actually, it can be creative too. When you’re designing experiments and trying different methods, creativity is a big part of the process.”

Girls who run the world

When she’s not in the lab, Danny can usually be found at home or out walking in the Pentland Hills with her partner, Cameron, and their three dogs, Charlie, Sid and Harry. In what spare time she does get, Danny is a huge advocate of women’s rights and runs her own ethical jewellery business online, where for every item she sells, another is donated to a women’s shelter.

“All of the jewellery I make is inspired by strong female figures from history, including scientists like Marie Curie, whose research into radiotherapy founded an early treatment for cancer and Hedy Lamarr, who pioneered the technology now used in WiFi and Bluetooth.

“It would be great to see more young people and especially girls taking an interest in science – we’re very outnumbered in laboratories, especially in academic settings!”

To find out more about the British Science Week #SmashingStereotypes campaign, visit: https://www.britishscienceweek.org/