YOUNG Einsteins have been all fired up for British Science Week.

Pupils at Heathfield Primary School, Over Hulton, enjoyed a number of hair-raising experiences as the school celebrated the national week designed to inspire the next generation of scientists.

Staff at the school invited in Peter Wright, of Wonderstruck, to demonstrate the magic of science, including setting his own hair on fire without actually burning the hair on his head.

Pupils were invited to help out with some of the demonstrations, including eight-year-old Maariyah Hakim who started the hair fire.

And the awe stuck pupils were amazed as he demonstrated how he is able to lie on a bed of nails without being injured.

The ‘mad scientist’ staged his show before the whole school and then went on to lead workshops in which pupils designed their own rockets and cars.

Each team set off their rockets to see which one went furthest before taking their fan powered cars to the track to decide which was the fastest

Helen McGillycuddy, science co-ordinator at the school, said: “During the magic show children saw his hair on fire and Rice Krispies explode.

“It was really good.

“We had teams of different ages and the older children would mentor the younger one.”

She added: “The day was organised to inspired the children to want to do more science and being interested in it and understand the real life context of science.

“Children were coming out saying they love science, which is what we wanted.”

Dylan Hunt, aged 10, said: “I enjoyed the balloon bit and we had to cover our ears in case it burst.

“The science was amazing and I think science is great.”

Abigail Farrell, aged 10, said: “I really liked making our cars.

“I never thought I would be making a car in school.

“The car we made came third.

“The day was really interesting and I also enjoyed looking after my friend’s sister.

“I used to think science was just about mixing things but it also includes rockets, fuel and cars.”