I was delighted to attend Sutton Grammar when they recently hosted the South West London Regional Big Bang Fair, sponsored by EngineeringUK.  Schools from all across the borough came to experience a fun packed day of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning and hands on activities.  With over 1000 pupils, over 40 exhibitors and workshops, the school was the place to be for Sutton’s budding scientists.

St Philomena’s, Nonsuch High School, Greenshaw High, Sutton High, Carshalton College and Overton Grange all delivered workshops to the pupils. There were also stalls from groups as diverse as the National Space Agency, Bletchley Park, Thames Water and King’s College Hospital NHS Trust.

Jamie Costello, Head of Science at Sutton Grammar, said: “What a wonderful day, providing the perfect mix of fun and learning.  Encouraging our young people to consider careers in Science and Engineering is important and what better way to fulfil this goal than to attend a Big Bang event.”

Notable events included Kritin Nithyanandam winning a place at the national finals next March with his project to improve the treatment of Breast Cancer.

Also winning a place at the national event was an RHS sponsored Smart Watering System for plants, a satellite based tracking system for pupils on Duke of Edinburgh Trips and “Stackamals” a product that uses layers of wood to create an animal ornament.

This was the third time the event has been hosted in Sutton.

Special thanks to B&Q for allowing visitors to use their car park.  It was also great to have such brilliant support from local company Subsea7 representing engineering and Sutton’s own specialist science centre – the Institute for Cancer Research.

You can watch the video from the day’s event here.