Following her fantastic win in the KLB School Famelab Academy Finals (featured in the February newsletter), Roxie Downs attended a two-day masterclass in Cheltenham with over 20 other year 9 students from across the county each of whom had won their school heat of the competition. The purpose of the masterclass was for the students to receive expert tuition from an experienced science communicator and continue to develop their own speech to follow the three Cs of good communication; content, clarity and charisma.

Following the masterclass, on 20 March our six school stage finalists (along with Roxie) headed to Tewkesbury for the Gloucestershire Famelab Academy Final at Rose’s Theatre where, over two sessions, winners from 23 Gloucestershire school competed against each other to be the best science communicator this year. After registering, Roxie was whisked away to get sound checked and receive final instructions in the theatre auditorium. The theatre was soon full of the county finalists, their fellow school finalists, parents and other supporters who created an excited vibe of expectation.

After an introduction from Dr Jamie Gallagher (scientist and science communicator), each performer was able to present their three-minute speech to the audience and a panel of judges. Roxie was first to perform and, although this could have been a nerve-wracking prospect, she spoke with clarity and confidence about the extraordinary lives of jellyfish, sharing facts about how they manage to live with very few of the organs we would normally consider essential to life. The talk was well received and Roxie responded well to the questions of the judges.

We then listened to the other eleven finalists who spoke on topics ranging from the fascinating world of fungi to phobias, from understanding the ‘r’ number during covid to why leaves change colour in autumn. Each talk was well presented and showed the tremendous effort of all participants to prepare and present on topics that had clearly interested them. At the end of the performances, the judges had the unenviable job of determining the winner and the two runners up. Despite not being selected for these top positions, Roxie, along with all the finalis

ts should be proud of the fantastic performances and amazing effort they put in to craft, learn and present their speeches.

As we returned to school, we reflected on the journeys our own finalists had travelled over the last four months to begin to master the skills that make an accomplished science presenter! We hope these skills, along with the confidence developed in speaking in front of others, will really help the students as they continue their science journey at KLB. Well done to all of them!