Science students from Longcroft School will be travelling to Loughborough University on Saturday 20th April to take part of a prestigious competition after winning the ‘Top of the Bench’ local heat.
Four students from Years 9, 10 and 11 will be testing their Chemistry skills and knowledge against schools from across the country after beating other local schools, including Hymers College, at Hull University late last year in the local selection. ‘Top of the Bench’ is run by respected Royal Society of Chemistry and is aimed at both enthusing young people about Chemistry and promoting the career paths available to them within this specialist scientific field.
Mrs Fiona Mitchell, Science Teacher, explained: “The competition to get to this point has been tough, but our students have relished the challenge as they are all so passionate about the subject area. We are thrilled for them to be going to the finals, where they will take a short test of factual chemical knowledge and a practical chemical problem-solving team exercise, so it’s not just about the science itself, but also teamwork and ingenuity.”
The Society has its foundations in 1841, when the Chemical Society of London was established to reflect the growing importance of Chemistry to the world, in terms of scientific discovery and their industrial applications. Now involved with projects on an international level, the organisation wants to encourage a new generation of chemists and competitions of this kind play an important role in this.
Longcroft Science Teacher, Mr Mike Sands, added: “We live in a world where much of our industry is developed through science. We need to look to the future and what sort of industries are out there now and developing over the coming years. It’s vital that we equip our students with the scientific knowledge and practical experience to be able to work in this field and ‘Top of the Bench’ is a perfect way to draw on their enthusiasm and knowledge and show them that their future employment could well be connected with the work they carry out in this competition.”
Upon winning the local round in November 2012, the students received an award from two members of the Society and are hoping that they will be bringing the national award home next week after their trip to Loughborough.
