An open evening was held in St Chad's on the 18th of October, in order to give the pupils and their parents an idea of what the school has to offer. They were treated to cakes and games in the language department, chocolate and stationery in the school shop, and in the science department, a lung and heart dissection held by Mr Farrow.

We arrived just in time to see the heart being cut in two by the science teacher. "And these are the muscles that pump the blood....." Mr Farrow exclaimed as he ripped open the muscles of the heart with a pair of scissors. He then went on to point out the different parts of the heart and lungs.

"I got the organs from an abattoir (slaughterhouse) in Crompton, they are from a pig. And I would like to point out that the animal was killed for meat purposes and not for the sake of the dissection," said Mr Farrow.

After the investigation the students were allowed to touch and investigate the lung and heart for themselves. They looked to be utterly fascinated.
"It was cool and I learnt some new facts about the heart," said James Adams, a year 8 pupil at the school.

It seems that the parents benefited from the dissection as well
"It was very interesting." said butcher John Riley, "I work in a poultry house so I see this sort of thing all the time. But that didn't make the whole thing any less exciting for me."

by Callum Priestley and Sarah Steele
article published 18th October 2005