Once again, Farleigh's Year 7 pupils were excited to be able to experience the ‘real-life’ practices of doctors and surgeons while operating on specimens from a pig. 

The morning started with a debrief and detailed description of how to prepare patients for surgery. Pupils were tasked with preparing a saline solution and administering this to their model patient through a cannula. Once this was mastered, activities then rapidly moved on to real specimens. 

During the day, pupils learnt about the human anatomy and were involved in dissecting and removing various organs including the eyeball, heart, lungs and liver. This experience is extremely valuable during the teaching of Common Entrance. Part of the syllabus includes finding out about the structure and function of living organisms with a specific focus on Nutrition and the Digestion system, Gas exchange in the lungs and Circulation. Pupils were able to look at the anatomy of the brain once they had removed it from the skull. This in self is a rare opportunity so the children are lucky to have been able to see this in real life. 

The day was a huge success with only a handful of queasy Year 7 pupils and staff. To top it off lunch was a delicious sausage casserole; yum!

Mrs Rogerson, Head of Science

Some quotes from the pupils following the event:

 “My favourite bit was dissecting a pig's head and inflating the lungs.” Bear

“Everyone was trying to find a way to get the eyes out of the head.” Toby

“We found mixing the chemicals to give to the patient the most interesting.” Elena