AUTISTIC youngsters marked British Science Week by bringing 10 chicks into the world.

Learners at LVS Oxford, in Begbroke, spent a week which also involved computer coding and penguin counting.

The activities were held to celebrate the educational week, part of a national campaign to promote science, technology, engineering and maths.

Much anticipation surrounded the arrival of the 10 eggs in their incubator with instructions for the students to follow to help them hatch.

The school’s webcam provided a live link to the incubator so the pupils could check progress from home. Residential students conducted temperature checks and topped up the water in the evenings and early mornings.

After 24 hours, seven chicks had been born. The remaining three hatched the following night.

Student Emma Farley, 14, said: “It has been amazing to see how fast the chicks have grown and how lively they are now, compared to when they had just hatched out.

“I’ve loved being able to come into the classroom and hold a chick for a while, it’s really calming and they often fall asleep on my lap which is really cute.”

As part of the exercise, the students learned about looking after animals, including feeding, watering and daily bedding changes.

When the chicks are two weeks old, they will be rehomed to a farm by Living Eggs, the company which organises this fantastic hands-on science activity for schools.

During the week, students were also given the opportunity to develop their computer coding skills during workshops with Science Oxford.

They used their newly acquired coding skills on BBC micro:bits, small codeable computers, to create images and words on LED screens and sounds and visual outputs using speakers and lights. They also made working compasses and thermometers.

Youngster Tom Martingale-Morris, 12, said: “I thought computer coding would be really hard, but once I got into it and understood how it all worked I had great fun. I’m looking forward to doing more coding in ICT lessons at school.”

During the week, LVS Oxford also encouraged students to participate in science challenges like Penguin Watch, which invites students to help scientists to examine hundreds of thousands of wildlife images from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean taken over the past three years.

Head of school Louisa Allison-Bergin said: “Our British Science Week activities have really awoken the curiosity of our learners in many positive ways.

"Trying new things and having new experiences can be hard for young people with autism, but through careful planning and thoughtful delivery we’ve seen a huge amount of excitement and enjoyment around our special science activities this week.”

LVS Oxford is a supported learning environment for children aged 11 to 19 who have communication, socialisation and imagination difficulties, specifically with Autism or Asperger’s.