Last week Balcarras hosted the annual Y5 Challenge Day, part of the school's Challenge program, which this year saw a record number of students from our main feeder schools (including CKJS, Glenfall, Holy Apostles, Leckhampton, Naunton Park and St. John's) being invited to take part in an number of activities put together specially by the Science and History departments.

For this event, the students are actually nominated by their Y5 teachers for potentially having a real interest in the specific challenge. Once again the students involved in the 'We are Scientists' experienced all three different strands via: 'The physics of music', 'Exothermic or endothermic' and 'Looking at cells'. And this year (replacing the 'We are Journalists' project that has run previously), the students had a go - using the Sixth Form Common Room - at recreating the main chamber of the House of Commons and then forming their own political parties (plus manifestoes), all as part of the amazing new 'We are Politicians' challenge that was put together by the History department.

As ever, a big THANK YOU goes out to all the Y5 teachers who nominated their students and to all the Balcarras teachers involved, for creating such an exciting and engaging set of challenges for the Y5s. Unsurprisingly all the students involved really enjoy the opportunities that the day offers. Hopefully, it might just have inspired some of them to become either a Scientist or a Politician when they grow up!