Students at a High Wycombe school were thrilled to have world renowned scientist and TV presenter Professor Robert Winston speak to them why science is important in communities today.

The Child of Our Time host visited Cressex Community School, in Holmer Lane, to deliver a talk to around 300 Year 8 and Year 9 pupils, entitled ‘Why bother with science?’, where he spoke about the value of science and “the importance of it in relation to how we behave in the community”.

Prior to the talk, students had been fundraising for Professor Winston’s charity, Genesis Research Trust, and presented him with a cheque for £550 on the day.

Speaking after the lecture, Professor Winston, who is the professor of science and society, and emeritus professor of fertility studies at Imperial College London, and a Labour peer in the House of Lords, said children “should be learning about science literacy from the age of three”.

He said: “We live in a world which is increasingly dominated by science and it’s important that we take wise decisions about how we use science well and for good rather than ill, and so science literacy is important.

“You can never start too soon. We should be getting kids to have a dialogue about the natural world as early as possible.

“It’s likely that we are going to need more and more science literacy as science becomes more and more prominent and dominating in our cultural and social lives.”

Head teacher David Hood said it was “really exciting” having Professor Winston speak at the school, adding the students had been “captivated” by what he had to say.

He said: “The pupils listened to him with perfect attention from beginning to end and were really interested in everything he had to say.

“He’s a very, very good communicator and so he has a nice way of delivering – and they hung on his every word.”

Lorant Kiraly, 13, said the talk had been interesting, adding he learnt that “you can look at science in different ways, from different points of view” and it gave him “the bigger picture”.

Maryam Choudhery, 14, said she came away from the talk feeling inspired and thinking about what she wanted to do career-wise in the future.

She said: “I think [the talk] was really interesting, there were a lot of interesting facts and it was quite engaging as well.

“It was inspiring in multiple ways.”