On Wednesday 20th November, four senior students were selected to travel to Oxford University to represent Holme Grange and experience some amazing chemical challenges at the RSC ‘Top of the Bench Competition’.
Ethan and James (Year 9), Holly (Year 10) and Amelia (Year 11) were challenged to create a poster, full of information on the uses of elements in their everyday lives! They focused on Lithium, Iron, Oxygen and Carbon.
The judges were very impressed throughout the competition with all the fifteen schools who competed. We participated in a two hour long practical to carry out Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) – A topic usually taught at A level so none of us had done this before!
Using teamwork, collaboration and cooperation, we worked away, taking on the challenges with some guidance from the current University students in their new multimillion pound teaching laboratories. With such great equipment and expert leaders there to guide, we were able to successfully complete 3 tasks and then present them to be marked and judged.
Overall we came 4th, out of the 15 schools competing, which was a great achievement.
Overall the day was very enjoyable and was a great opportunity for us to see the work which goes on at a University, with an added bonus of a trip to Tesco to get some treats for the journey home!
We were very thankful for this opportunity and wish good luck to anyone who is selected for this next year!
Article written by Amelia
