Year 9 students visited The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair at the NEC, which is the country's biggest single celebration of science for young people.

With a packed programme of interactive workshops, talks and demonstrations, it proved to be an engaging and inspirational visit.

Activities included a life-size model of the human body which visitors could 'operate' on and a show depicting the impact of global warming on aquatic life. There was a live show based on Sky 1's Brainiac series and lots of career advice on the various fields of science.

Students also had the chance to sit a mini exam to see which career in science they would be best suited to.

Science teacher Daniel Healey accompanied the students and he said: "The main aim was for students to see how science works in real life. In school, you can be a bit limited in what you can do in the labs because of health and safety - this gave them the opportunity to be more involved and see real examples of how science works.

"There were PhD students, lecturers and lots of employers giving advice, from chemical companies to a Greenpeace group. They even looked at things like the science behind graphics that are used in TV and films.

"The feedback I got was that it was a really fun day and I think it made our students appreciate science a bit more."