One of our most popular Baylab competitions, the Heart Mechanics National Science Competition attracted 271 schools across England registered to participate this year. Pupils aged 7-13 years were challenged to create a new Olympic sport that does not already exist, a meal that fits for an Olympian which helps improve heart health and to produce a heart model that shows or explains how the heart works – all designed to encourage students to think about how lifestyle choices can affect heart health.

Richard Condon, Business Unit Head of General Medicine, who judged the entries, said, “I was very pleased to see so many schools and pupils get involved and was impressed by the high volume of inspiring entries which made my judging job a difficult one!”

“Entries from The Bishop’s Hatfield Girl’s School stood out because of the creative, differentiated new sport ideas, food menus along with well-structured and executed anatomical heart models. Congratulations to the girls!”

The winner school will receive a prize of £2,000 worth of sports or exercise equipment and will be invited to attend the Heart Mechanics Workshop at Baylab later in the year together with the runner-up.

The annual Heart Mechanics Competition is part of the Heart Mechanics Workshop which is a four-hour programme designed for pupils aged 7-13 years that focuses on the core structures and function of the heart and cardiovascular system, heart diseases and the impact, the ways to look after their hearts through healthy lifestyle choices. The workshop looks at the composition of blood, the circulatory system, structure and function of the heart as well as heart disease, heart health and lifestyle. Students learn about the important roles the heart and the circulatory system play by making their own fake blood, using microscopes to look at blood smears, modelling the circulatory system and getting hands on with anatomy models, blood vessel scanners and much more.