Dr Xand Visits Churcher's College Junior School

On 28 June 2023, we were lucky enough to welcome Dr Xand van Tulleken to Churcher’s College Junior School & Nursery – our second celebrity of the term following a visit from Alan Titchmarsh in May!

Xand is a doctor and TV presenter and is best known for presenting the CBBC children’s series Operation Ouch! with his identical twin brother Chris. My friend Georgia (the head girl) and I (deputy head girl) are both big fans of Operation Ouch! and knew that Xand would be a brilliant person to talk to children at our school. Luckily, we knew how to contact him as he is a friend of my parents. We were thrilled when he accepted our invite!

The children in our school were really excited when they heard that Xand was coming to our assembly – as were some of the teachers who had also seen him on TV! In the assembly, Xand showed us clips from Operation Ouch! and told us about what it is like to work in a hospital as a doctor and what it is like to go behind the scenes of a TV programme. He told us how emotions are felt in the body, and what happens when you are scared. He showed us funny pictures from the show which made everyone laugh and explained about lots of common childhood illnesses. This was really interesting, and we all learned a lot.

Xand told us remarkable stories about things that happened when he was training to be a doctor, and how everyone, even doctors, can feel a bit sick, faint, or worried sometimes when they see something a bit gross. He explained how children who have to go into hospital feel much less worried if they know what is going to happen. He likes making Operation Ouch! because it can help lots of children who have to see the Doctor. We all learnt a lot about medicine and had a wonderful time.

Written by Olivia, Year 6 Pupil