A group of Year 10 (14-15 years) students from The Derby High School (Bury) began the 2024-25 academic year with a clear mission in mind – to embrace the ethos of making change far and wide. Following on from their previous GSSfS Changemaker projects, developed in 2020, teachers and students embarked on an unforgettable journey to engage over 600 Bernese pupils in practical learning. This was a first for them and a first for staff and students at the Learning Centre in Thailand.

2024 has been a perfect time to embrace science and culture following on from GSSfS being awarded the National Patronage of UNESCO this year. Read on to find out how the experience proved transformative, expanding horizons and fostering cross-cultural understanding through the universal language of science, and what we can take away from it.

What was this aiming to achieve?

How did the students get set?

The students diligently prepared for their Thai adventure over 3 months. They scoured the GSSfS Enquiries to get inspiration on a theme that could translate globally, cross language barriers and had a strong sustainability focus. Students explained that:

“We selected enquiries that we thought would be both exciting and achievable. That meant we had to think about what equipment and materials would be available as we couldn’t carry everything over there by plane. We also wanted to make sure that what we did could be repeated by the pupils in the future. This was important as we wanted to share leadership as well as science.”

To ensure effective communication, the students rehearsed and trialed the activities in school with younger pupils in Year 7 (11-12 year olds) and used this to refine their explanations and presentation skills.  A subsequent Blog – Part 2 will profile the enquiries more fully.

About the School 

The learning Centre visited by the students in Thailand, operated by the Foundation for Education and Development (FED), catered to Burmese migrant children. FED’s mission is to provide educational access for these children in Thailand, with the aim of empowering Burmese migrants and assisting them in overcoming the challenges associated with enrollment in Thai government schools. This initiative seeks to provide an education that will offer opportunities for a better future in Thailand.

The values upheld by the school aligned closely with those of The Derby High and the Great Science Share, emphasising sustainability and instilling in students the importance of valuing, respecting, and contributing to their community. The practical experiments that took place extended beyond textbook learning to improve overall access to education.

The school’s curriculum is designed to equip students with knowledge and skills likely to be beneficial in their potential future careers. Consequently, they showed great enthusiasm for participating in the soil profile experiment, recognising its relevance for students who might pursue careers in agriculture.

Science Comes Alive in Thailand

The impact of hands-on science was immediately apparent in the Thai classroom. Used to learning primarily from textbooks, the Thai students were initially overwhelmed but quickly became excited and engaged with the practical work. Smiles spread across faces as they participated in their first-ever practical science experiments.

The periscope activity emerged as a clear favourite mainly because the students were thrilled to construct a device they could take home and share with their families. 

Students explained:

“They seemed to really like this one because they were excited to share it with their families. We think that seeing science apply to everyday life, rather than just something that happens at school, was something that was new to them. They asked us so many questions and at times they were hard to answer, so we talked about what we thought.”

Cultural Exchange

Science wasn’t the only bridge between cultures. The students and their Thai counterparts exchanged dances, breaking down barriers and fostering connections through The Derby High’s other trademark – the Arts! 

The Great Science Groove was the obvious choice to share – and ‘Let’s Celebrate Science!’ was sung and danced in the same way as we see it at so many Great Science Share events. In return, the Thai students taught The Derby students a traditional Burmese dance that emphasised the importance of family and interpersonal relationships.

The experience highlighted the power of non-verbal communication, and created bonds in another powerful way. Mr Hardicre explained that,

“To see the students learning through science and dance was just great. For me this was a pivotal moment that helped both groups feel more comfortable with each other. In many ways it set a really positive tone for their scientific collaborations and the rest of the time we spent together. So many smiles, we all got involved… including me!”

Lessons Learned

This experience taught The Derby High students valuable lessons about effective science communication:

The importance of being flexible and adapting the situation as you find it. 

1. The power of demonstration over explanation. The practical learning was something that was new to the students and demonstrating meant that they saw the hands-on approach in real time.
2. The need to adapt to different learning styles and backgrounds, and indeed to embrace it so there was a genuine 2-way engagement.

Perhaps most importantly, the students learned that the limitations they perceived in the Thai students was mostly about access to resources. An ongoing collaboration with this school, and the fact that the enquiries were resource-light meant that they could see how they could think and work scientifically without needing specialised equipment.

Looking Ahead

The trip has inspired both The Derby High students and their wider school community. Interest in next year’s trip has surged, with impressive applications pouring in from students eager to participate.

Moving forward, ourselves and The Derby High are exploring further ways to deepen the partnership with the Thai school. Lynn Provoost, Assistant Head teacher explained:

“We are definitely planning to do this again. We’ll be extending the time spent in the school next year and definitely using the Great Science Share enquiries to incorporate even more take-home activities. This means we’ll be able to engage families further, which is what really came out as a strength.”

Focusing on environmental sustainability enquiries is also another area of further development, as this will link in with the GSSfS 2025 Connected Science topic, and also mean there is a strong sense of cultivating global citizenship between both groups of students. 

Science across cultures – Part 2 – GSSfS goes trans-international in the hands of secondary students in Thailand

The Derby High School took GSSfS across the world to Thailand this year, focusing on their international Changemaker project. 

This school launched their own GSSfS Changemakers project during the pandemic as a way to encourage the students to continue asking, investigating and sharing scientific questions when in lockdown. The story didn’t end there, and year on year they have developed this idea and embraced it. 

This year they capitalised on the links one of their inspirational teachers, Mr Hardicre, had with a secondary school in Thailand. They made this the focus for sharing science across cultures and made a meaningful and purposeful impact on over 600 Burmese students as well as making memories that will last a lifetime.

How did this come about?

A large fundraising initiative was required to support 10 pupils from Year 10 (14-15 years) to take part. The Assistant Head teacher, mapped this into a whole school experience programme, which has been developed to give every student in the school a real-world community work-related experience each year. 

Sponsorship and support was received from:

Enquiries you can try, just like they did!

Asking, investigating and sharing science was the GSSfS way for this enriching experience. Students chose enquiries that were hands-on, resource-light and could be replicated numerous times. 

Find out more about them here:

• Investigating sound and music using glass

• Exploring reflection 

• Building periscopes to extend learning into Design & Technology 

• Creating fire extinguishers^[b] 

Onwards they go with enriching learning across their whole school community…

Although the summer holidays have arrived teachers and pupils at The Derby High continue to develop ideas for ongoing impact in their local community using Science and the Arts.