CAFE culture is thriving in Bolton School girls’ division - as a new, exciting way of learning.

The school has opened the popular Cafe Scientifique, where pupils enjoy a series of lectures in the field of science.

The latest visitor was equine veterinarian Claire Sawyer, who is based in Oxfordshire.

During the lunchtime presentation, she told the girls “they need to be robust, not too squeamish, clever, flexible with their social life, and not someone who gets tired easily and hard working”.

The girls, of all ages, were given an insight into her career and how those wishing to enter the profession had to be prepared to move around.

Ms Sawyer is originally from Swindon, and graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2007 as a trained vet.

She started work in Bridgend, Wales, before taking a position as a junior equine hospital vet at the University of Liverpool. She then moved to Wright & Morten’s in Cheshire before moving to her current workplace, Avonvale, where she is a director and is learning how to run a business.

Much of her work focuses on orthopaedics and lameness investigation in horses, trying to work out why an animal might be limping or in pain.

Ms Sawyer’s work sees her often attending Warwick races and she explained how it is a legal requirement to always have at least three vets at a horse racing event.

She stressed that even though racehorses are commercial entities they are very well looked after and many go on to do other things after racing.

Ms Sawyer said she also enjoyed working in the surgery, although this was not every vet’s “cup of tea” and is certainly not for the faint hearted.

She told the audience how a vet’s life can be gruelling as you work all day and be on call all night during the week or, if you work the weekend shift, you can be on call all weekend.

Ms Sawyer added that people needed to be pretty tough too as most equine vets she knows have been kicked or trampled and there will certainly be dangerous situations.

She recalled how she had nursed an injured horse, whilst being hoisted over a river by the fire brigade.

She said she had started to think seriously about becoming a vet when she was 15 years of age, during a two week work experience and after realising she was good at science.

A spokesman for Bolton School said: “She knew it was hard to get into vet school and that the course would be difficult — but she has always enjoyed a good challenge.

“She said that you do the job for the love of it, as remuneration was adequate but would never make you ‘big bucks’.

“She told girls that it would be good to get some work experience on a farm or in a local vet’s practice to help them apply to university. Her favourite horses to deal with are competition ones — those involved in racing, dressage and show jumping.”

“There is a great buzz to helping them return to full fitness. She rounded off by saying that she does love the job and finds it very rewarding with different things happening every day. One of the perks of the job, she said, that along the way you do accumulate a number of pets of your own.”