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Cambridge Festival Schools Days 2026

The Cambridge Festival Schools' Days 2026 will take place on Tuesday 24th March for Primary/KS2 and Thursday 26th March for Secondary/KS3.  


The schools' days will be held at the University of Cambridge West site and include a series of curriculum linked talks and hands on workshops on subjects including Astronomy, History of Medicine, Creative Writing and Veterinary Science with researchers and experts from across the University.

Build a schedule for your pupils by choosing talks and/or workshops from the wide range of topics. We will also be offering a Maths themed walking trail and access to the newly planted Third Nature tree exhibition. Events will be held from 10:00am until 3:00pm.

All events and talks are free and we will also be offering some travel bursaries*. 

Please scroll down the webpage to see all events listed for both 24th March and 26th March.

Once you have made your choices please send an email to Clare.Hutton@admin.cam.ac.uk and we will book your pupils into your chosen events. Some of your chosen events may be full but we will try our best to accommodate all students wishing to attend. 

 

 

Map of the Cambridge West Site

 

 

Events on Tuesday 24th March for Primary/KS2 students 


Talks on the 24th March:


Living in the Bronze Age: Investigating the Mystery of Must Farm 

10:00 – 11:00am 

How were people living in the Cambridgeshire Fens during the Bronze Age? What caused a 3,000-year-old village to burn down? 

In this session Lydia Clough and Dr Chris Wakefield unearth fascinating stories about the archaeology from Must Farm, an incredible Late Bronze Age site near Peterborough. Find out what was on the menu for a Bronze Age breakfast, how people used tools and weapons and why archaeologists get very exciting about finding preserved poo! 

This session links to the KS2 history curriculum statements: 

  • changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age 
  • a local history study 
  • a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 

Large groups.

 

Exploring Mathematical problems

11:30 – 12:30am 

Liz Woodham and Charlie Gilderdale from the NRICH team will introduce some of their favourite mathematical problems and will invite students to put pen to paper... 

Students will have an opportunity to explore, explain and generalise, and discover that everyone can enjoy thinking mathematically! 

Large groups.

 

Mastering the Multiverse and other secrets of space and time

1:15 – 2:15pm 

"Is time travel possible?"
"Can black holes collide?"
"What is dark matter?"

Discover the answers to these questions with Dr Matt Bothwell, and many more at the Supervillain Academy - the magnificently morbid school for young bad folks-in-training. Discover how time can speed up or slow down depending on where you are, what happens when black holes collide, and whether wormholes could be the key to instant travel across vast distances.

Large groups.

 

 

Workshops at the West Hub on the 24th March:


Raspberry Pi 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Awesome activities to help young people learn to code and become tech creators.

More info to follow.......

Class size groups.

 

Curious Questions: The Human Body  

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Can you trick your own eyes? Why does sound travel better through you than through the air? Do you know where your bones and organs are? Use our handling objects to find out more about the inside of your body. Learn how to see and hear through your fingers, explore a range of optical illusions and discover why being sick is a superpower. 

Class size groups.

 

How to disagree well and still get along!

10:00 – 11:00am 

Do you ever disagree with people in your class? Or with your family or friends? Disagreement sometimes feels like a really bad thing (and sometimes it is!), but does it have to be? Maybe we can disagree and also get along really well together. In this session we'll talk about how we can get along even when we have conflict or conflicting beliefs. Teachers will also receive slides and notes for use in their classrooms to consolidate learning from the session. 

Class size groups.

 

Creative Writing through Poetry

11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

In this workshop, Joanne Limburg will share poems from her collection, Bookside Down, which was highly commended by the CLPE, explain how they were made, and help participants to make their own. You can find Joanne Limburg’s poem ‘The Potatoes my Dad Cooks’ in the Poetry By Heart calendar for schools. 

Class size groups.

 

 

Workshops within departments on the 24th March:


The Cavendish Laboratory Department of Physics 

Investigating Physics 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Join the Cavendish Laboratory Outreach Team for a hands-in investigation into physics.  In these sessions, we will apply curriculum physics to open-ended problems, looking at how an understanding of forces explains a wide variety of problems.  Cambridge’s own Isaac Newton set out three simple laws that can be applied to all sorts of practical situations and we will demonstrate some of them here. 

Class size groups.

 

The Department of Veterinary Medicine 

Unlock the Secrets of Animal X-rays 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm  (smaller groups)

Step into the shoes of a veterinary radiographer! Learn to read animal X0rays and uncover clues to solve medical mysteries. Can you diagnose what is wrong just by looking at an X-ray? A hands-on experience in veterinary diagnostics awaits you. 

Scrubs on: Explore the Roles in our Animal Hospital  

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30p and 1:15 – 2:15pm (smaller groups)

Ever wondered what it is like to work in a veterinary hospital? Put on your scrubs and dive into the exciting roles at The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital. From Surgeon to Anaesthesiologist, Veterinary Nurse to Educator, discover how each professional works together to treat animals in this interactive workshop. 

Discover the Fascinating World of Horses  

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30p and 1:15 – 2:15pm (smaller groups)

Get up close to our horses and cows in the stables. Learn how veterinarians diagnose and treat these large animals - without being able to ask what is wrong! (Please note: not suitable for individuals with horse or cow allergies). 

 

The Department of Computer Science 

Microbit programming and binary bracelet making  

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Make a reaction game with real physical switches you can bash as hard as you like! 

The aim of this game is to react to an image appearing on the Microbit’s display by pressing your switch as fast as you can. Then, you and your opponent can battle it out to see who has the fastest reaction.   

Students will be provided with the base code for the reaction game and will be asked to think of ways to make it better and implement these changes with the help of a student ambassador. 

Students can then make a bead bracelet, necklace or keyring spelling out your name or initial in binary? This is a great way to learn about binary, the language of computers. Choose your two favourite colours of beads to act as zero's and one's and use them to spell out your name or initials in binary. 

Class size groups.

 

The Department of Material Science and Metallurgy 

Heat Matters – the science of temperature, structure and materials 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Come and get some hands on experience of the world of Materials Science!  

Find out what happens when you freeze a squash ball with liquid nitrogen; learn how you can make some wires move all by themselves; and see out how easy it can be to deform steel!  

In these interactive sessions you will be able to take part in three fun activities that explore some interesting properties of different materials and see how they are influenced by temperature. 

Class size groups.

 

  

Events on Thursday 26th March for Secondary/KS3 pupils 


Talks on the 26th March:


 

Living in the Bronze Age: Investigating the Mystery of Must Farm 

10:00 – 11:00am 

How were people living in the Cambridgeshire Fens during the Bronze Age? What caused a 3,000-year-old village to burn down? 

In this session Lydia Clough and Dr Chris Wakefield unearth fascinating stories about the archaeology from Must Farm, an incredible Late Bronze Age site near Peterborough. Find out what was on the menu for a Bronze Age breakfast, how people used tools and weapons and why archaeologists get very exciting about finding preserved poo! 

This session links to the KS3 history curriculum statements: 

  • a local history study 
  • the study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066 

Large groups.

 

 

Exploring Mathematical Problems

11:30 – 12:30am 

Charlie Gilderdale and Liz Woodham from the NRICH team will introduce some of their favourite mathematical problems and will invite students to put pen to paper... 

Students will have an opportunity to explore, explain and generalise, and discover that everyone can enjoy thinking mathematically! 

Large groups.

 

 

Mastering the Multiverse and other secrets of space and time

1:15 – 2:15pm 

"Is time travel possible?"
"Can black holes collide?"
"What is dark matter?"

Discover the answers to these questions with Dr Matt Bothwell, and many more at the Supervillain Academy - the magnificently morbid school for young bad folks-in-training. Discover how time can speed up or slow down depending on where you are, what happens when black holes collide, and whether wormholes could be the key to instant travel across vast distances.

Large groups.

 

 

Workshops at the West Hub on the 26th March:


 

Raspberry Pi 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Awesome activities to help young people learn to code and become tech creators.

More info to follow.......

Class size groups.

 

 

How Antibodies Save Lives – Understanding the immune system and disease-fighting treatments 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Dive into the fascinating world of our immune system with this hands-on science workshop. 

In this session, you will learn about the incredible job antibodies do defending our bodies against harmful invaders like bacteria and viruses. Our researchers will introduce you to the amazing science behind our immune system and how scientists are using antibodies to develop new treatments, like cancer immunotherapy. 

You will also be able to make a keyring out of beads to take home as a reminder that antibodies are Y-shaped. 

Class size groups.

 

How to disagree well and still get along! 

10:00 – 11:00am and 11:30 – 12:30am 

Do you ever disagree with people in your class? Or with your family or friends? Disagreement sometimes feels like a really bad thing (and sometimes it is!), but does it have to be? Maybe we can disagree and also get along really well together. In this session we'll talk about how we can get along even when we have conflict or conflicting beliefs. Teachers will also receive slides and notes for use in their classrooms to consolidate learning from the session. 

Class size groups.

 

Creative writing through biographies and memoirs 

11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

In this workshop, Midge Gillies will discuss how we write about real people – in biography and memoir. She will examine the choices we make in telling the story of someone’s life and offer participants the chance to consider their own life by writing about their given name. 

Class size groups.

 

History of Medicine 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Find out about the history of medicine in Britain with this talk with objects from the Whipple Museum of the History of Science. Learn about operations in the Stone Age, early anti-vaxxers, Victorian medical devices and some of the darker sides of the development of medical science 

Class size groups.

 

Workshops within departments on 26th March:


 

The Cavendish Laboratory Department of Physics 

Investigating Physics 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Join the Cavendish Laboratory Outreach Team for a hands-in investigation into physics.  In these sessions, we will apply curriculum physics to open-ended problems, looking at how an understanding of forces explains a wide variety of problems.  Cambridge’s own Isaac Newton set out three simple laws that can be applied to all sorts of practical situations and we will demonstrate some of them here. 

Class size groups.

 

The Department of Veterinary Medicine 

Unlock the Secrets of Animal X-rays 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm  (smaller groups)

Step into the shoes of a veterinary radiographer! Learn to read animal X0rays and uncover clues to solve medical mysteries. Can you diagnose what is wrong just by looking at an X-ray? A hands-on experience in veterinary diagnostics awaits you. 

Scrubs on: Explore the Roles in our Animal Hospital  

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30p and 1:15 – 2:15pm (smaller groups)

Ever wondered what it is like to work in a veterinary hospital? Put on your scrubs and dive into the exciting roles at The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital. From Surgeon to Anaesthesiologist, Veterinary Nurse to Educator, discover how each professional works together to treat animals in this interactive workshop.  

Discover the Fascinating World of Horses  

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30p and 1:15 – 2:15pm (smaller groups)

Get up close to our horses and cows in the stables. Learn how veterinarians diagnose and treat these large animals - without being able to ask what is wrong! (Please note: not suitable for individuals with horse or cow allergies). 

 

Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy 

Heat Matters – the science of temperature, structure and materials 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm, 1:15 – 2:15pm 

Come and get some hands on experience of the world of Materials Science!  

Find out what happens when you freeze a squash ball with liquid nitrogen; learn how you can make some wires move all by themselves; and see out how easy it can be to deform steel!  

In these interactive sessions you will be able to take part in three fun activities that explore some interesting properties of different materials and see how they are influenced by temperature. 

Class size groups.

 

The Department of Computer Science 

10:00 – 11:00am, 11:30 – 12:30pm and 1:15 – 2:15pm 

This hands-on workshop involves learning how to use a block-based programming language to control a robot car. The session will be broken up into the following sections: 

  • Guided introduction to programming the robot (20 mins) - using the provided workbook, students begin by programming their car to do a number of basic actions (e.g. making the car move, change speed etc).  
  • Creative coding challenge (20 mins) - students apply the skills they've learnt to program their car to do something unique: the more creative, the better! 
  • Presentations (20 mins) - everyone takes turns to present their robot to the rest of the group by sharing what their robot does, and any of the challenges they overcame or features that they're particularly proud of. 

Class size groups.

 

Cavendish Museum Exhibition, Maths Trail and tree exhibition 


  • For the last 150 years, the Cavendish Laboratory has been at the forefront of physics research, producing over thirty Nobel prize winning scientists.  From subatomic particles to the building blocks of life, Cavendish discoveries have revolutionised our understanding of the universe.  The Cavendish Collection houses a selection of artifacts from throughout the Cavendish’ history that illustrate the range of these contributions, along with a series of interactive exhibits.
  • The Cambridge West maths-walking trails for KS2 and KS3 pupils will guide participants around the Cambridge West site solving visual mathematical problems.  
  • We also include access to a newly planted permanent outdoor tree exhibition called ‘Third Nature’ 

More information about our Cavendish Museum exhibition, Maths trail and ‘Third Nature’ exhibition can be requested when bookings are made. 

 

 

 

Please book directly for talks and workshops with Clare.Hutton@admin.cam.ac.uk. If you would like to discuss your visit please send me an email and we can arrange to have a chat!

 

*terms and conditions will apply for bursaries 

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