25 June 2026
Mrs Emma Petty, Head of Biology
Year 9 students were treated to a break from normal lessons recently when biology teachers used their neuroscience expertise to teach them about how their brain works. Students learnt about the three main areas of the brain and how they interact, exploring the distinct roles of the cerebrum, cerebellum and brain stem and why each one matters for everything from scoring a goal to writing an essay.
We talked about the amygdala in particular and how the fight or flight response can save our life in the right situation but also lead to unnecessary stress if it over-reacts to everyday situations like taking an exam. Students were surprised to learn just how quickly the amygdala can hijack rational thinking, and why that split-second response made a lot more sense when our ancestors were avoiding predators than when we’re sitting in an exam hall. We modelled how we can calm this guard dog of the brain down with strategies including box breathing.
We gave examples of how repetition can actually change the structure of your brain, developing new connections in regions for motor skills and hearing, for example when practicing an instrument. This idea, that the brain is not fixed but shaped by what we do, surprised a lot of students. We linked it back to their own learning, discussing how revisiting material and practising skills is not just good habit but is rewiring their brains over time.
Many students found the brain dissection the most exciting part of the lessons (though some chose to use a model brain instead). A sheep's brain is remarkably similar to a human one and students were able to identify all the main areas that make us tick, locating structures they had seen in diagrams at the start of the lesson and holding them in their hands for real.