CSI: Louth

Students in Key Stage 4 who gained epraise points were treated to a CSI workshop.

Students from Years 10 and 11 who had been recognised for their efforts took part in a Crime Scene and Forensic Investigation workshop.

Managing Directors of CSI Training and Events Ltd, Angela Davies and Dionne Watson, showed the students what their jobs as Crime Scene and Forensic Investigators entails.

The company were brought into the Academy for a workshop as part of the efforts to support and encourage students to pursue more career options, especially those surrounding STEM.

Angela and Dionne are passionate about STEM education and ‘Bringing Science to life through Crime and Justice’ and inspiring the next generation with experiential learning and ‘hands-on’ workshops in a subject they love.

Each student had their own suit to wear to really get a feel for how a Crime Scene and Forensic Investigator would work and they were taught how to take fingerprints and how these are used in solving crimes.

They were then shown how fingerprints are used during an investigation. They were taught the tips and tricks used by crime scene analysts such as identifying patterns and characteristics in every person’s individual fingerprint.

Angela said: “The students were all really engaged and fantastic in getting involved.

We love to be able to share our knowledge and teach them about how it all works and let them know that it really isn’t how it looks on the television!”

Louth Academy are keen to promote their enrichment programmes this year, which have been expanded into many areas. They are particularly interested in encouraging more girls to enter into STEM careers and discover the wealth of opportunities that there are for them.

Katie Lee (Y10) was very enthusiastic about the workshop. She said: “I’m enjoying it so much. I’m really interested in this kind of thing anyway and love anything to do with crime solving and murder mysteries.

I really love science and enjoy studying it so I’m looking forward to discovering more. This workshop is great as I’m interested in studying law and CSI further when I leave school.”

Once the students had worked together to take their own fingerprints, they were taught how to dust for fingerprints using aluminium powder and were given a forensic pack filled with items from a fictional robbery.

They then lifted fingerprints and used them to identify the guilty party from their suspect packs.

Lead Teacher of STEM at Louth Academy, Rachel Reynolds commented: “I was really impressed with our students. They all got involved and were very respectful to our visitors. They all really enjoyed their time with Angela and Dionne and they’ve all come away with some new and interesting pieces of knowledge.”

Principal Phillip Dickinson said: “It was fantastic to see the students really enjoy this fantastic STEM opportunity. Outstanding enrichment is at the heart of our educational offer and we continue to look for varied opportunities that appeal to all Academy and inspire an Aspirational outlook in the students”

We feel that it’s important to develop STEM skills and look forward to seeing more workshops like this one at the Academy.”