A massive congratulations to the sixth form students who won awards in national chemistry challenges over the past year.
The Olympiad, which is open at all A-Level students and runs at the beginning of the Autumn Term in January, is written by the Royal Society of Chemistry and designed to stretch and challenge the most able chemists in the country. The paper probes well beyond the syllabus, engaging students to use their existing knowledge to tackle novel, and pressing, problems. In 2022, the three-hour exam tackled topical issues such as the introduction of renewable ethanol-based biofuels, and the chemistry behind both the COVID-19 lateral flow test and the safe storage of vaccines.
Phoebe (Upper Sixth), Hetty (Upper Sixth), Edward Newton (Upper Sixth), Lucy Mountain (Lower Sixth), and Freya Mills (Lower Sixth) were all rewarded with silver certificates for their impressive efforts – a fantastic achievement and one to be very proud of.
Phoebe, Hetty, and Edward also took part in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, run by Cambridge University Chemistry department, at the end of their Y12 studies, with similarly excellent results. Faced with a challenging set of questions that encompassed the chemistry of thiocyanates and an in-depth exploration of oxidation states, both Phoebe & Hetty achieved gold awards, placing them in the top 10% of entrants nationally. Edward fell agonisingly one mark short of the gold award but received a silver certificate, alongside Alec Glen, and both students displayed an impressive range of skills in their answering.
Mr Flintoff (Chemistry Teacher)