Future Leaders and STEM Award Winners
We are very delighted to announce that a group of year 10 students have achieved their Future Leaders Awards and IRIS (Institute for Research In Schools) Awards! This is a great achievement for our students and a fantastic start to their futures!
Mia S, Cameron S, Meckenzie W, Beau T and Mercy O have all worked tirelessly From October 2021 to June 2022 to complete an IRIS project. The IRIS project named ‘Treezilla’ enabled our group of year 10 students to plan and carry out scientific research on local trees to gather data for the Open University and Treezilla websites.
Our students have experienced working outside as budding ecologists, gathering data from a particular tree at Lydiard Park, including identifying the tree, measuring the circumference of the trunk and crown, measuring the height of the tree using just a 30cm ruler from a distance and analysing the tree for any diseases. In addition to this, they added their data to a spreadsheet to compare their tree data to other trees around the UK.
The aim of this project was to make a comparison of the each tree’s ecoservices to see how trees are beneficial to the environment and humans. The students were able to conclude which tree had the highest value of ecoservices and how this positively impacts the local environment. Their final task was to produce a poster to show their findings in a scientific and professional way.
The group of students worked closely with Villiers Park staff to share the many skills they developed as individual scientists. Through completing this Villiers Park Future Leaders Leadership Challenge project, students met criteria for either a Challenge Champion, Challenge Maker or Challenge Leader award with Villiers Park.
Mia S, Cameron S, Meckenzie W, Beau T and Mercy O were invited to a Celebration Evening at The Village Hotel, West Swindon on Thursday 7th July 2022 to receive their well-earned certificates of achievement. Their excellent work was proudly put on display to show their fellow peers and parents. Each student was presented with either a Challenge Champion, Challenge Maker or Challenge Leader award with Villiers Park, as well as a certificate from IRIS.
We are very proud of all of you and would like to say ‘congratulations’ on your achievements! Not only have you learnt and developed many skills, you have also shown that you are young scientists with a passion for the environment. Well done to you all!
Mrs L Walter, Mrs Z Stewart and Mrs K Kingston