Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, visited Nower Hill High School today where she joined a Year 8 Science lesson studying the neuroscience and importance of early child development. The programme of lessons formed part of a pilot research project being run by Oxford University.

The initiative, entitled SEEN: 'Secondary Education around Early Neurodevelopment', is a research project aiming to teach the key principles and importance of early child development and neuroscience to students.  The project results will inform recommendations relating to the teaching of neuroscience around child development to policy makers. Nower Hill High School has been delighted to work with Oxford University to support their research.

This visit comes after Her Royal Highness launched The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, to drive awareness of and action on the extraordinary impact of the early years. The focus of this pilot aligns strongly with The Duchess and her work on early childhood, as it is steeped in the understanding of the critical importance of early child development and its influence on an individual’s long-term health, wellbeing and potential in the future. The lessons focus on the neuroscience, underpinning how caregivers’ behaviour contributes to children’s future outcomes, which have been shown to be pivotal in childhood development.

 

Nower Hill High School is one of 21 educational establishments involved in this national project. The school was highlighted and selected by Oxford University for the visit after demonstrating an excellent understanding of the underlying concepts and overall aims of the initiative, as well as adopting new material across an entire year group.

“We are honoured and absolutely delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness to Nower Hill High School. We are particularly proud of our diverse, inclusive community, and our reputation of positivity in supporting academic research, particularly when it is in the interests of children and young people.

We have a fantastic Science Faculty who have embraced the challenge of SEEN’s research; I am thrilled that our participation in this important initiative will contribute to developing the curriculum, and extending the complex subject of brain development in early years to more schools across the country.” Louise Voden, Headteacher.