Full STEAM Ahead: Building, Blasting and Brilliant Fun!

On Thursday 26th June, the entire Year 5 cohort from Maltman’s Green School in Gerrards Cross visited Leighton Park for an exciting day of scientific discovery and engineering innovation. The group of enthusiastic pupils was divided into two STEAM workshop experiences: Chemistry, and Design Technology & Engineering.

Explosive Discoveries in Chemistry

Led by our Head of Chemistry, Emilia Hicks, and Science Technician Ellie Millard, the Chemistry workshop built on the students’ recent classroom learning. Having just earned their Bunsen Burner Licences earlier in the week, the pupils were well-prepared to step into our fully specialised lab.

The session began with a demonstration of an irreversible reaction involving copper, highlighting the importance of using all your senses—feeling for heat, listening for bubbling, and observing any changes in colour. Pupils then got hands-on, working in pairs to experiment with invisible inks—one writing a hidden message using Phenolphthalein or Sodium hydrogen carbonate, while the other revealed it with the reactive agent. Next they experimented with exothermic and endothermic reactions, before the excitement of pop rockets fuelled by vitamin C tablets, which exploded with a bang and plenty of squeals from the children.

Edith said, “My favourite part was the invisible ink,” whilst Neev declared that her favourite part was the pop rockets, adding, “It was the best day of my life.”

Engineering in Action with LEGO Cars

Meanwhile, the other half of the group was immersed in the world of engineering with a LEGO Technik car workshop, facilitated by Science Teacher, Gemma Sims, and DT Technician, Michelle Darracott. After an introduction to gears, ratios and iterative design, the pupils eagerly began building their LEGO vehicles from the ground up, starting with step-by-step instructions before venturing into independent adaptations.

After a classroom session supported by an informative video, the real fun began—testing their creations on a specially-designed ramp with increasing gradients. Students repeatedly redesigned, rebuilt and refined their cars in a hands-on exploration of how small engineering changes could significantly impact performance.

Lara said her favourite part was: “Testing the car and working out what went wrong.” Meanwhile, Amirah thought “It was amazing” and really liked the teachers, student helpers and lunch!

A Taste of LP Life

After a busy morning of experimenting and building, the pupils regrouped with one another and gathered in LP’s Oakview Restaurant for a well-earned lunch.

Reflecting on the day, Paul Kalyan, Head of Science at Maltman’s Green said he had brought his students to Leighton Park as he “thought it would be good to give the girls a flavour of KS3 including hands-on experience with chemicals not permitted in a primary school setting.” Both Paul and Margaret Mee, Head of Art & DT at Maltman’s Green agreed that the workshops were “very successful” in achieving their aims.

We thoroughly enjoyed welcoming Maltman’s Green to Leighton Park and were delighted to see such curiosity, collaboration and creativity from every pupil. A fun, inspiring day was had by all.

You can read more about our approach to STEAM here or see more photographs from the workshops here.