Pupils were given a science lesson to remember when TV’s Professor Robert Winston dropped by.
The television presenter, doctor and surgeon visited the North West London Independent School, in East Acton, to open a new science lab that has been named after him.
He gave the pupils a quick lesson on acids and alkalis during his visit to the school, which specialises in teaching youngsters with behavioural difficulties who have been excluded from mainstream schools.
Dr Winston recently appeared on Channel 4 programme Jamie’s Dream School, teaching teenagers who had dropped out of school.
Thomas Keaney, chief executive of TC Education Services (TCES), which runs the school, said: “Lord Winston has inspired the nation with his work at Hammersmith Hospital and in television science education and we are very proud that he opened the science department that bears his name.
“He has already shown, with his work with Jamie’s Dream School, his commitment to the education of disadvantaged young people.”
The Winston science lab has been set up to allow the pupils to take part in experiments which might have been considered too much of a risk at their previous schools.
The school has 55 pupils between the ages of 11 and 16, who have been referred there from nine West London councils.
Mr Keaney added: “We educate some of the most challenging young people in the country, offering positive outcomes to young people of school age who are at the point of disengaging with education.”