Year Four pupils at Pulford Lower School visited the Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology at St Mary’s Hospital, London, where they had the unique opportunity to see the amazing da Vinci Surgical Robot which starred in the latest James Bond movie.

The robot mimics, in miniature, the hand and finger movements of the surgeon who simultaneously views a 3D image of the surgical tools working inside the patient.

Retiring headteacher, Jim Meager, said the youngsters were stunned into silence when they were greeted by a robot which enables specialist consultants to have a presence in remote hospitals.

They practiced their own surgical skills on the computer-aided surgery training stations, learning how to manipulate keyhole tools without risk to real patients.

The climax of the visit was when, in teams of six, the pupils conducted a simulated operation in a newly-commissioned training theatre.

Dressed in surgical gowns, masks, hats and gloves they played the roles of anaesthetists, surgeons and theatre assistants to work as a team to remove a cyst from a very grateful manikin.

Mr Meager was observed to go rather pale when one of the children kindly offered to remove his gall bladder. Fortunately, it was only a ‘virtual’ surgical procedure and he escaped unscathed!

“The school is indebted to the team of young surgeons who gave up their whole day to work with our children. They even said that they had enjoyed themselves too,” said Mr Meager.

“The visit came about as a result of a Year Four science project started at Pulford several years ago sponsored by a partnership grant from the Royal Society of Science.

“The project involves a group of Pulford dads, all having a science background, who come into school and work with small groups of Year Four children. They gain enormous benefit from this learning opportunity and have a great time gaining new skills and knowledge from a range of practical sessions with our science partner dads.

“Next year it could be a moon landing or a Mars probe – the sky’s the limit.”