Biology at Sedbergh: a conversation with Dr Alisdair McMeechan
In this interview, Dr Alisdair McMeechan, who has been Head of Biology at Sedbergh School for 13 years, reflects on the power of a knowledge-rich curriculum, the importance of real-world application, and how Sedbergh’s unique environment brings science to life. From advanced laboratory techniques to fieldwork on the School’s doorstep, he explores how pupils develop not only scientific understanding, but also the confidence, curiosity, and critical thinking to apply it far beyond the classroom.
“When pupils understand the fundamentals, they can go on to question, evaluate and apply them to the real world—that’s where biology truly comes alive.”
“I think that the fusion of new technology with tried and tested traditional teaching methods is actually a very powerful combination.”
What is it about biology that you still find exciting to teach after many years in the classroom?
I’ve been a teacher for about 20 years now, but I think my background before teaching still gives me quite a context to teach young people, because I’m able to have an understanding of how the subject can operate outside, say, GCSE biology or A level biology. Whether that’s through careers or, again, through scientific research and work there.
What experience from your time at Glaxo Wellcome, prior to teaching, do you bring into the classroom?
I think an understanding of scientific careers, scientific processes, and how qualifications and science can be transferred to the world of work. Whether it’s careers in the lab or just those roles where scientific knowledge gives you transferable skills. Just looking at the back of the lab there, that’s the sort of remains of a Year 13 experiment where they are doing DNA fingerprinting, gel electrophoresis—reasonably advanced techniques. Knowledge of that really helps. You wouldn’t necessarily always expect to see pupils using restriction enzymes and doing genetic fingerprinting.
Does that help pupils understand real-world applications?
Absolutely. We are more conscious than ever about pathways for Year 13s. I do believe if they’re studying particular topics in any subject—obviously I’m speaking from a biology perspective—if they can see what route that might take and where that might be applied in research or real-world problems and solutions, it can really, really help them.
What do you hope pupils leave your classroom with, beyond the specification?
I just hope they can leave with a range of skills—not just knowledge, but communication skills. Part of teaching is group work and research. Pupils research topics and present them. We really focus nowadays on a whole range of skills. We use IT a lot more in science than we used to. We use data packages to analyse statistics now.
Do pupils carry out statistical analysis in class using software packages?
Well, we often use Excel. A level biology has quite a lot of statistics, but we do employ IT to aid the analysis—for example, standard deviation and error bars. Those sorts of skills are undoubtedly going to be used in a number of areas, whether it’s in a biological sciences context or not.
Does AI play a role? Is it something you actively teach?
It is coming into it. One application that I’ve seen students use AI for is to analyse an essay they’ve written and then produce the main points for improvement. I’ve seen them ask AI to summarise exam board mark schemes. That’s a powerful and practical use of AI, I think.
In some ways, I think we’re about to have to teach them more about it in terms of how it’s used correctly and what to do with the output as well. Because, as we know, generating summaries, etc., is useful, but pupils need to know how that can actually be used. So I think all schools are increasingly having to engage with that.
But you need to understand the principles first; it’s like drawing a graph on a piece of paper—something we would do in almost every lesson in biology—you’ve got to learn how to do that yourself first, because that’s a basic maths skill before you can get Excel to do it. I do think there’s huge value in that.
I think that the fusion of new technology with tried and tested traditional teaching methods is actually a very powerful combination.
It’s not all about ‘chalk and talk’. I’m a firm believer in a teacher-led, knowledge-rich curriculum. It really helps children to develop knowledge before they can learn to evaluate or form more complex opinions, because before you can do that, you need to know the basic scientific principles.
The knowledge-rich curriculum is really, I think, an underpinning theme in a lot of education at the moment, particularly given the IT side of things. Yes, we’re using AI to complement it, but when children have the basics and the foundations, they can then really access the more abstract ideas and those that require more balanced opinion and evaluation.
Why does biology work particularly well in the Sedbergh environment?
Our department, with four laboratories, is literally in the centre of beautiful Sedbergh town, and every lab is looking outside—and that just draws you outside. Sometimes physically—we use the grounds to do our fieldwork. We’ve got Bruce Lock, which is actually a very large natural area that we can use for ecological studies, investigating the distribution of organisms. It’s a five-minute walk from each of these labs. So this environment seems to come in, and then we go out as well. It’s a really powerful environment. I think in quite a complex time for young people, it’s a really strong force having a nice rural setting as well.
What does teaching at Sedbergh allow you to do that you might not be able to do elsewhere?
I think the contact I have with pupils is much higher because I see them in all sorts of settings—boarding houses, classrooms, pupils working in the department. They know my timetable; it’s pinned on the door. They can come into the classroom and ask questions—mainly A level pupils—but access to teachers is much easier because we’re full boarding. It makes extra revision and support sessions easier to put on.
How do you balance academic rigour with nurturing curiosity and confidence?
Because our teaching methods are very varied, pupils have lots of opportunities to try activities that are quite difficult, and if they get them wrong, they learn from that. They have opportunities to do presentations within lessons. I think our teaching methods from Year 9 all the way up to Year 13 help develop confidence, particularly in science, where you need knowledge to be able to demonstrate that confidence.
We do open-ended investigations. For instance, we’ve been doing a crime scene scenario with Year 13, which has actually been quite complicated because we’ve had samples, used restriction enzymes to digest them, and then separated the samples with gel electrophoresis. Year 13s have been doing that. That kind of context-based learning is important, but it’s also a bit different—it’s not just the usual run-of-the-mill test tubes and so on. I think that develops quite a bit of curiosity.
In terms of standards, we’ve got a very highly qualified department. I am one of the examiners for the A level biology paper. That really helps me teach the specification with a deeper understanding of the examination process.
Why do you believe biology continues to be an important subject for school leavers?
Well, Sedbergh offers three sciences. All pupils study biology, chemistry and physics, and science helps children understand the world around them. It inspires them, often through practical work or just interesting observations or things to do. So I really think the sciences help children develop knowledge. Science helps them to find their feet in the world. It enables curiosity to be developed. So I certainly would argue that science is really quite core to an education, as well as all the other rich variety of courses that pupils study here, both academic and more physical education-based disciplines.
If you could negate one misconception about biology, what would that be?
I think certain people, maybe when they’re older, always think biology is just cell biology or just microscopes. Admittedly, there is quite a lot of that because the cell is the fundamental unit of living things, but we do cover a very wide range, and I think biology is unique from that perspective. We literally cover molecules, ions, subatomic particles, all the way up to entire ecosystems and the planet. I think we’re really lucky that we can draw on examples of study across that whole range. The range of relevant topic areas that biology can contribute to, particularly at a time when climate change and environmental destruction ought to be very high on everyone’s mind, including politicians, governments, pupils and all adults. I think biologists have quite a key role to play in that, actually.