Fantastic Brains Return To School!

On Thursday 8th May 2025, Nottingham High School had an amazing STEAM Day where we learnt all about neurodiversity. Four brilliant speakers came in and two of them were former pupils! Each speaker had a different story to tell, and we learnt how people with conditions like ADHD, dyslexia and Tourette’s can still achieve incredible things in science, technology, engineering and maths.

First was Weixi Han, who taught us about bananas and why they can't grow in England. They need more sunlight and come from places like the Benito Farm in the Philippines, taking 27 days to reach the shops. We played a fast-paced game in teams - Bananas, Watermelons and Strawberries – passing balls without giving them to the person next to us. It was a really enjoyable session!

Mathew Wetton, who went to our school, told us about his work in geophysics. He has dyslexia, dyspraxia and Tourette's, and he studies layers of rocks. He explores rocks from thousands of years ago! We learned about the Old River Valley, which is 50,000 years old, the Large Esary which is 100,000 years ago and the End of the Last Ice Age which is 7,000 years ago. It was so exciting to learn all about these and to understand his condition and hear what he has achieved.

Next, we met Jake Busuttil-Goodfellow, who has ADHD and now works in drug development. He told us how ADHD affects his focus, time management and dealing with stress, but doesn't stop him from doing exciting science. We made proteins out of pipe cleaners; me and my friend made a pretzel shaped heart. It was fun and helped us understand ADHD more.

Finally, Tom Turner spoke about working at Sumo Digital, making games like Sonic, Minecraft and Hogwarts. His company helps people with neurodiverse needs by creating quiet spaces and flexible hours. He showed us a game that puts you in the shoes of someone with ADHD. It was really enjoyable and really made us think.

STEAM day taught us that having a different brain can be a superpower. As someone with dyslexia myself, it made me feel very inspired. The speakers had such cool jobs, and it made me think that I can have a super cool job one day too.

Thank you Mrs.Sethi, for an unforgettable and brilliant day!