A Day In The Life of… the Science Technicians

The day begins with a quick team catch-up, after which the technicians check their emails and diaries, and plan the day ahead.  As the bell signals the start of the school day, the team ensure that the day’s practicals are ready and also begin to prepare for practicals the following day. The team can sometimes be responsible for preparing up to 40 practicals between them in a day.

From Tuesday of each week, the team begin to receive booking sheets from the science teachers, detailing the practical experiments they want to run during the following week. This enables the technicians to plan, allocate and prepare all the necessary equipment and chemicals for each lesson.

The complexity of the science practicals varies greatly. A chromatography experiment may only require glass beakers, small wooden rods and chromatography paper. However, the serial dilution experiment carried out by Sixth Form Human Biology students can take up to one week to prepare for, due to the large number of elements involved! Large numbers of pour plates, McCartney bottles and syringes have to be sterilised, bacteria has to be checked to ensure it is healthy and useable, and agar (a jelly-like substance used when growing microorganisms) has to be made and then sterilised in the autoclave, a dome-shaped pressure cooker.

Once the first practical sessions of the day are underway, the team get on with their daily tasks, including clearing practicals away, washing up and emptying the dishwasher.  Where possible, equipment is fixed, chipped glassware is repaired, microscopes are checked and calibrated, equipment is sterilised, water is distilled, and stirring rods, L-shaped spreaders and inoculating loops (simple tools used to take and transfer small samples of micro-organism cultures) are made.  These are only a few examples of the tools and equipment the technicians make; they make much more ranging across all three sciences!

Vandyke students enjoy a wide range of practical experiments throughout the year, using a wide range of equipment and chemicals, and stock levels need to be carefully maintained. A full chemical check (essentially a stock-take) is conducted each year, but the senior science technicians regularly check stock levels to ensure there is always a steady supply of chemicals to enable practical lessons to go ahead.

Other annual tasks include PAT testing of all electrical equipment and full-scale lab checks, where all equipment in each lab, including Bunsen burners, gas taps, water supply etc, are tested to ensure they are working safely and efficiently. Staff and student safety is always the top priority in the science department.

Outside of timetabled lessons, the team set up the practicals required for the weekly after-school revision sessions for Y11 students and the Y9 Science Club.  There are also many occasions throughout the year when the science technicians have to set up hands-on experiments and demonstrations for visitors to the school – open evening, transition days and Sixth Form open evening, to name a few. Safety is always the top consideration, as labs are often busier than usual and visitors of all ages need to be able to move around safely.

At the end of each day, the team meet for a final debrief and plan the following day – which experiments are taking place, what equipment is required and what help each technician might need from other team members. Before leaving, they do a final check of the prep room to make sure everything is switched off and left safe, and ensure the tech room is left as clean and tidy as possible, ready for the following day.

The science provision at Vandyke is second to none, and we’re very grateful to our Science Technicians for the vital role they play in providing our students with such positive experiences in the labs!