Thirty budding scientists from The Westwood Academy in Oldham are being inspired to consider science and technology as a future career thanks to a school trip to a major science festival.

Teachers at the school, on Middleton Road in Oldham, have arranged for the Year 6 pupils to experience the multi-award-winning New Scientist Live festival, which arrives in Greater Manchester for the first time after a successful five-year run in London.

The first two days, Saturday 12 March and Sunday 13 March, are open to all, and the final day, Monday, is dedicated to schools where pupils from Westwood Academy will be joined by other schools from around the UK. 

Brain and body, the universe, the earth and technology & engineering are the four themes that will run through stimulating talks, interactive performances, workshops and hands-on activities geared towards scientists of all ages.

Sarah Wimperis, Principal at Westwood Academy in Oldham, said: "Oldham and our people contribute significantly to Greater Manchester being a world-class hub of scientific and technological learning, research, innovation and industry. We firmly believe we have the next generation of scientific leaders here in Oldham. 

“This trip to New Scientist Live is an opportunity for our pupils to meet the people who are shaping the world of science and technology and get up close and personal with them. 

“We hope the trip will stimulate, challenge and inspire our students with some of today’s biggest scientific discoveries and ideas and help our pupils to become enthused about a future career in this fast growth sector of our regional economy." 

Adrian Newton, commercial and events director of New Scientist Live, said: "We are delighted to get ready to welcome the Year 6  pupils from Westwood Academy to our festival. We’ve arranged for them to experience a mix of live demonstrations, mind-blowing experiments and other immersive experiences to inspire them into a lifelong passion for science and technology.

“It’s the first time we’ve hosted our festival outside of London and we couldn’t be happier to welcome the pupils to our education day.”

New Scientist Live isn’t just about hearing from great scientists, it’s about getting involved as well. With over 30 exhibits across the show floor, people can get up close and personal with a range of science and technology activities.

There’s plenty of interactive fun, with a giant game of ‘Operation’ courtesy of Birmingham City University. At the Wessex Archaeology stand, visitors can pilot a virtual drone and there’s a mock crime scene to investigate with Staffordshire University.

For the technophiles, Salford University’s GameLab will showcase leading-edge VR experiences and Thales will demonstrate the latest technology used by the Royal Navy.

For those who like the stickier side of science, there's the UK Health Security Agency's 'Snot gun', where people can experience big sneezes and super slimy snot. If you prefer to keep it clean, you can see how Science Animated bring science to life through incredible animations and see some of their work from the past five years.

Finally, wannabe astronauts can come and smell space at the New Scientist Discovery Tours stand or witness an immersive documentary about the Apollo program in the pop-up planetarium. 

Talks and discussions will be led by leading academics, entrepreneurs and experts in their field include Radha Boya (Chair of Nanoscience at University of Manchester), Christopher Jackson (Chair in Sustainable Geoscience at the University of Manchester), Dallas Campbell (TV presenter and author) and Jon Chase who is best known for his science ‘raps’ for NASA, BBC and Chester Zoo.

Find out more and get tickets here.

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