HealthReach

A group of Year 8 students visited the University of Reading to take part in a HealthReach activity. This excellent, hands-on experience is run by the University and funded by the government and the NHS. It educates young people about first aid and careers in healthcare.

First they head about Danny, who broke his leg, and the range of healthcare professionals he would have seen. He would have been taken by ambulance staff, greeted at the hospital and seen the triage nurse. There are staff taking blood tests and X-rays, and if an operation is needed there are theatre practitioners, as well as doctors, nurses and physiotherapists. There are porters, site staff, IT staff and catering staff to cook your meals.

A session about dealing with choking followed and the students also visited the HealthReach Dome. This facility can show a variety of scenarios for students to assess a first aid situation and learn CPR.

The students enjoyed a delicious lunch in the university dining hall. They also heard about the University of Reading and had a tour of the campus with Student Ambassadors who also told them what it is like to be a student and study there. We are very grateful to the University for generously providing this interactive opportunity for the students to find our about healthcare and university life.

Fujitsu - Project Management

Students thoroughly enjoyed this interactive Project Management Challenge with Fujitsu which focussed on building a house to a customer's requirements and considering the risks and challenges. They also enjoyed building the designs using magnetic tiles.

We are very grateful to the volunteers from Fujitsu for their time, energy and commitment in running these sessions for the students.

National Health Service The Year 7s were also visited this week by staff from the NHS. One was an ex student who told the students about the 'Step into the NHS' competition which they will be working on as part of their STEM activities.

She was joined by a Pharmacist, who told the students about the varied role of pharmacists, working at chemist shops, in hospital or in research. She got the students opinions and thoughts about various topics and explained the skills and expertise that were needed. It was interesting to hear about the challenge's pharmacists deal with every day. She answered many questions from the students at the end of the talk.