Proceedings kicked off with a lively discussion, led by Ian Simmons, Director of Science at the Centre for Life, on the main subject of the afternoon: Swine Flu- Pandemic or Panic? Is swine flu something we should all be worried about or has it all been blown out of proportion by the media? The students certainly had plenty of questions for Ian: how had Swine Flu started, why hasn’t the government issued vaccines sooner and do pigs really get swine flu? (The answer, by the way, is yes!)
Our second speaker was Jessica Brady, a recent graduate in Human Geography from Northumbria University. Jessica really got the group going: lots of chat and plenty of laughter during her session on young people, social groups and stereotypes. Jessica tried to identify the Chavs, Goths and the Emos in audience and even let the students have a go at categorising her! (Results came in at 50% chav, 50% emo) The discussion turned to why we feel the need to form social groups, is it nurture or nature that determines which group you will belong to and are some people born chavs? The audience was fairly split on this one!
The final part of the super café was celebration of the hard work of students and teachers in the North East which has made Café Sci such a success in this region. Ian Simmons presented the prizes:
- Longest-running café: Thomas Hepburn Community College
- Best new café: Carmel Roman Catholic Technology College
- Best Relaunch: Walker Technology College
- Best Student Organisation Team: Egglescliffe School
- Best Teacher: Derek Goode for his work with Café Sci in both Park View Community School and Tyne Met College
But no one went home empty-handed; event participation awards went to all the other schools attending: Framwellgate School, Heworth Grange Comprehensive, Lord Lawson of Beamish School, Bishop Barrington School and Ponteland High School. Our fantastic new Café Sci mugs certainly seemed to go down a storm with the attendees and will hopefully be brimming with liquid refreshments to whet people’s appetites at cafés next school year.
A big ‘well done’ to all our prize-winning schools and indeed all our schools in the region who work so hard to make their cafés an enjoyable part of school life.
