By Orna Herr, Communications Officer (Education) at the British Science Association

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As well as her Gold Award looking at STEM* career accessibility, which you can read about in part 1 of this blog, Poppy has earned Bronze, Silver, Discover and SuperStar CREST Awards – she’s truly worked her way up the ladder!

As a CREST veteran, Poppy gave us her tips for any young person thinking about doing CREST. Her mum, Natasha, offered her tips for supporting a child as they follow their interest in STEM.

Tips from Poppy:

• The CREST library is amazing. For every project except for my Gold Award I used the CREST library to get my ideas…the ideas on there are really good and interesting.

• Don't overwork yourself. You'll turn out with some really bad pieces of work because it just isn't your best if you've been overworking yourself.

• Set realistic goals. I know that when I contacted people, my goals were just to contact them and have it seen. I didn't expect a full reply from them. It was amazing when I got one, but I wasn't expecting it and that can apply to any level because you don't have to contact people, you can just set realistic goals.

• Have fun, because especially in the lower CREST levels where you'd start, it's not supposed to be a big thing. You’re just supposed to have some fun with it.

(Above, Poppy with here certificates)

Tips from Natasha

Poppy is clearly an exceptionally bright child but, like all children, she needs strong support around her to reach her full potential and enjoy what she’s doing.

Natasha told us that neither her or Poppy’s dad Sean have science backgrounds, but they have found ways to support their daughter’s growing interest and talent:

• Go at your child’s pace.

• Invest in books, science kits, there's loads of stuff that you can do at home. The molecule modelling kits, that was one of her favourites for making the atoms.

• Make time for it. We've got full time jobs. So it's just finding those little things you can invest in at home, but then just making the time for it as well.

• Talk about science. When she would ask me something I didn't know I said "I don't know that. But I'll tell you what. Let's research it when we get home".

Poppy has the support to make big plans for the future, but not just for herself:

I want to keep pursuing more science funding in key stage two because I don't want to just drop it here, I want to actually get it implemented

In her letter to the Prime Minister on the topic of STEM career accessibility, she explained that she wasn’t just looking for changes in her school, she wants children around the UK to benefit.

(Above, Mewburn Ellis CREST Discovery Day) 

Once Poppy has turned 11, she plans to enter the Big Bang Competition, looking further into the future she wants to go to university then work in chemistry.

Poppy’s achievements are extraordinary – at ten-years-old to have earned a Gold CREST Award, something usually done by students aged 16+. It’s important that children and young people know that whichever CREST level they work at, as long as they’re working hard and engaging with the topic, they’re achieving something special.

Read part one of this blog about Poppy's Gold Award here:

Ten-year-old Poppy explores STEM accessibility - a CREST case study

*STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and maths