A GROUP of students from The Taunton Academy have attended an international science conference in Belgium as part of a European Union project to promote the teaching of STEM subjects to teenagers.

They presented their ideas to an audience from The Netherlands, Spain, Greece and Italy.

Last year students in Year 9 were invited to take part in a research project in conjunction with Exeter University.

They created experiments to see if they could promote an interest in STEM subjects and healthy lifestyles.

The culmination of this collaboration was a trip to Brussels this month to take part in SEEDS (Scientific Engagement for Adolescents), an international academic conference.

SEEDS aims to foster science literacy and STEM education by raising health awareness through the empowerment of young people in critical thinking skills, by designing interventions that seed an interest in science.

It is particularly aimed at children from lower income areas. Students co-create tools for interventions to empower them to improve their health, via a series of 'makeathons'.

The Taunton students were invited to present at the conference in front of their peers from each of the different nationalities.

They each discussed the interventions that they designed, created and implemented, ranging from healthy eating options, to ways of including more exercise into their daily lives.

On the first evening students had the chance to meet other delegates from The Netherlands, Spain, Greece and Italy while experiencing Greek cuisine - after which they expressed their disappointment that they realised they were the only students who weren’t bilingual.

At the end of the conference there was time for some cultural sightseeing in Brussels, visiting the Grand Place and the Manneken Pis statue.

Acting headteacher Lisa Webber said: “Both our staff and those from Exeter University were incredibly impressed and proud of the way our students handled themselves, consistently initiating communications with other students of all nationalities and also in the way that they each articulated their points of view on the rostrum.

“We relish the chance to give our students exciting and challenging opportunities, so we were delighted to support this trip to Brussels.

"We are very proud of our excellent student scientists and grateful to the staff for giving up their time.”