In this week's Friday Feature, we highlight a team from St Michael's Preparatory School in Kent who competed in this year’s National Science Quiz Club Championships, held in March and April. 

Regular participants in the annual contest, pupils went head-to-head with over 100 schools, tackling challenging science-based trivia. St Michael’s pupils were delighted to place 28th in the competition, qualifying for the nationwide semi-final.

Determined to stretch their minds even further, St Michael’s budding scientists progressed to the next round, competing against the top 29 teams in the country. They showcased impressive teamwork, knowledge and understanding to place a respectable 18th nationally. 

Commenting on their involvement, pupil Thomas said: "Competing in the quiz was an exciting and challenging experience. Some of the questions were tough but working as a team to find the correct answer was rewarding and showed us how strong our knowledge is when we come together."

St Michael’s offers a broad and inspiring science curriculum enriched by weekly clubs, scholarship sessions and dedicated STEM and science weeks, helping to foster the curiosity and confidence central to the team’s success in this national competition.

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Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden has announced 300,000 new work placements will be available for young people over the next three years as part of the government's efforts to tackle the joblessness crisis. The placements will be backed by some of Britain's biggest employers, including Manchester and Gatwick airports. The news comes just one day after a landmark review into youth unemployment, which highlighted lack of work experience as "the single most-cited barrier to work amongst young people". Commenting on the new placements, Mr McFadden said: "The evidence is clear, give young people real work experience and the chances of them building a lasting career increase dramatically." By Aine Fox, The Independent. 

Labour is reportedly poised for a fresh attempt at reforming the welfare system after yesterday's report revealed that youth unemployment is costing Britain more than £125 billion a year. Alan Milburn, the author of the report, suggested that welfare savings could be reinvested in employment support, adding: "The sustainable way to reduce the benefits bill is not by plucking an arbitrary figure out of thin air and saying we're going to cut it. The way to do it is to get more young people into work." By Richard Partington and Peter Walker, The Guardian. 

Karen Hayward, the executive principal at Sandy Secondary School in Bedfordshire, writes in Tes explaining how her school has "built a robust careers programme based on the Gatsby Benchmarks that aims to give young people ambition, a sense of purpose and a clear focus for what comes next". As a result, the number of leavers not in employment, education or training (NEET) has continued to decline over the past three years, and is now below 1 per cent. 

Current university students are significantly more anxious about making mistakes than their parents were at the same age, according to a new study from the London School of Economics (LSE). The trend is thought to be linked to a growing sense that the cost of falling short has increased over the past 40 years, with young people facing pressure from tuition debt, a tougher job market and the challenge of earning enough to support a family and buy a home. By Rhys Blakely, The Times. 

Schools can use artificial intelligence (AI) to draft support plans and staff guides for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), according to government-backed guidance. However, leaders must be "extremely cautious" with pupil data and should not rely on the technology to make key decisions, nor let it write statutory documents like education, health and care plans (EHCPs). Schools Week summarises some of the main updates to the guidance, which cover the use of AI in translating learning materials and drafting risk assessments. By Esmé Kenney. 

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