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n the evening of Thursday 22 November Dr Paul Smith,


Head of the Seed Conservation Department & Millennium Seed Bank at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, became the inaugural speaker in the School’s new lecture series.


Pioneering scientist launches school’s new lecture series


Mayfield science student honoured with national award


Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank is the largest and most diverse seed bank in the world. Dr Smith explained that, working with partner institutions in fifty countries worldwide, it aims to have stored seed from 25% of the world’s rarest, most threatened and most useful plant species by 2020. These seed collections not only insure against the extinction of species in the wild, they also enable us to introduce new species into agriculture, horticulture, forestry and habitat restoration. Drawing on examples from around the world, Dr Smith described to a packed conference room the work of the MSB and explained why it is vital for human innovation and adaptation.


Sasha Wardell welcomed at annual Potter's Day


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harlotte Wright,Year 13, is celebrating after being presented with a Gold CREST Award at the University of Brighton on


Friday 30 November.


Charlotte was honoured to receive the prestigious award from the British Science Association for research work she did during a placement at De Montfort University during the summer holidays. She was researching the removal of organic compounds from wastewater using hydrogen peroxide. As she explained, “Working with waste water might not sound very glamorous, but residual pollutants in treated water can cause problems in the environment, so it was great to be working on such a real and current issue.”


During the three week placement, Charlotte spent over 90 hours in the University chemistry laboratories, overseeing dozens of experiments using sophisticated equipment, analysing the results, investigating any anomalies, and finally writing up a lengthy report.


CREST is Britain’s largest national award scheme for project work in science and technology. Charlotte was delighted to receive an Award, following assessment of her report and an interview at the University of Brighton. She commented, “I thoroughly enjoyed my time at De Montfort University. The hands-on experience was fantastic and it gave me a real insight into the challenges and rewards of research work. I found it immensely satisfying.”


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n Saturday 24 November, St Leonards-Mayfield School


held its annual ‘Potter’s Day’. We were very lucky to welcome Sasha Wardell to demonstrate her work and techniques to pupils studying Ceramics in Years 10-13.


Sasha has nearly 30 years’ experience in the Ceramics world, lecturing at numerous universities across Europe and the UK and also making her own work using bone china, a clay which is rarely used outside of industry. The material is extremely delicate and it was a privilege for pupils and staff to see it manipulated and formed so skilfully.


Everyone learned new techniques and all senior students were able to gather around the pieces that Sasha had made during the demonstration and ask detailed questions. In addition to two books that Sasha has written on slip casting, Sasha also very kindly left the pieces she made on the day for the Ceramics Department to fire and keep.


LECTURE SERIES


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