New Salford City Academy Students take on Shower Gel Challenge set by PZ Cussons

"All our volunteers found the day fun and it was great to inspire the next generation of scientists!  It was really rewarding to see the pupils first day at "Big School" be so exciting. I wish my first day at secondary school would have been so great!"

Laura McCourtTechnologist at PZ Cussons

PZ Cussons scientists delivered a timetable of exciting challenges for Year 7 pupils in their first week at Salford City Academy.  This included teambuilding, problem-solving and creative tasks alongside scientific demonstrations and hands-on experiments. The activity included 20 volunteers from PZ Cussons working with 95 Year 7 pupils. The day was a massive success and provided a positive transition experience for the pupils and a great introduction to science as a subject and career.

The Story

PZ Cussons and Salford City Academy work together in partnership as part of the Business Class Programme.  The Assistant Principal of Curriculum Provision , Stuart Moss, called on the expertise of PZ Cussons professionals to help deliver a timetable of teambuilding, problem-solving and creative tasks alongside scientific demonstrations and hands-on experiments.  

PZ Cussons, a leading consumer products business in personal care, dispatched a team of scientists from their Agecroft site who were more than happy to assist. 

The challenges included designing product colour and fragrances, choosing bottle shapes, and creating a brand, logo and advertising to market their products.  More scientific exercises involving exciting, and sometimes explosive, demonstrations of shrinking crisp packets, making square bubbles, squeezing an egg into a bottle, and mixing reactive liquids and yeast, all taught students about Salt and Rheology, Plastics and Surfactants.    

Rose Daniels, Head of Year 7 at Salford City Academy said: 
"It was a fast-paced day and the pupils were really enthusiastic; fully embracing all the activities. We always aim to give our new students a memorable first day at the Academy but it's just as important for them to build new friendships and gel with their mentors; all the exercises were geared towards that."

The busy programme was designed to culminate in the manufacture of a shower gel in ‘production lines' set up in the Academy's sports hall. 
Dressed in PZ Cussons lab coats and goggles, all students worked together to mix the shower gel, and then fill and label the bottles.  All were delighted to be able to take a bottle home as a memento of their first day! 

New Year 7 student Joshua Hampshire said: "It was a fantastic day. I learnt lots of new things and how to make shower gel, which I'd never done before. When I took it home my mum said it smelt gorgeous! It was a great way to make friends - I put my hand up for lots of answers so people kept coming to me for help." 

Student Keeley Maggs-Baptiste said on the day:  "Today was fantastic; I can't wait for lessons tomorrow."

The activity included 20 volunteers from PZ Cussons working with 95 year 7 pupils in their first week at secondary school.

Impact

  • Providing pupils who are just starting secondary school with a fun and exciting transition from Primary.
  • 63% of the pupils rated the activity as excellent and 37% as good.
  • Raising the profile of science as a meaningful, exciting and practical subject to study and career to pursue.
  • Giving scientists at PZ Cussons creative development opportunities where they can develop new skills and re-energise their enthusiasm for science.

Top Tips

  • Good clear lines of communication with business partners.
  • Planning regular meetings to discuss progress and resources.
  • Making sure learning is the focus and encourages, linking understanding and learning activities to job roles, interaction with professionals, real life investigations and active enquiry, learning through doing and group work.

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