CURRICULUM
& ACADEMICS 2021 / 22
CHEMISTRY
The chemistry department have been busy with additional activities across the year groups , to enrich our students learning experience and to appreciate chemistry ’ s application in our everyday lives .
At the start of the year , some of our Middle School chemists took part in the Royal Society of Chemistry ‘ Top of the Bench ’ competition . The team – Matthew Xu , Ruby Ducker , Freddie Woodruff and Evie Rennison – completed a challenging online quiz which tested their chemical knowledge and their ability to apply this to some really tricky problems . The team competed admirably , and Miss Parker was particularly impressed by their enthusiasm and determined approach when presented with ideas beyond those covered in lessons . They achieved a fantastic final position of seventh place in our region ; excellent work from all involved and we hope to improve on this with some added hands-on activities in 2023 !
This was followed by an article in the RSC Education in Chemistry , in my classroom series aimed to share information about our teaching environment . This included a photo of one of my favourite displays , which was prepared by our department on the periodic table . We had fun taking photographs of letters found around the school and around Pocklington , to represent the symbols of the elements in periods 1 – 4 .
Practical work is at the heart of our learning in chemistry and , in March , some of our Lower School scientists took part in the Royal Society of Chemistry Global Experiment . This is an annual challenge completed by students across the world ; this year the theme was ‘ Take Charge ’ and the students were tasked with making and testing their own cells and batteries . There were excellent investigative skills on display and the students used their initiative to solve problems and light up the lab ! We look forward to seeing the students tackle next year ’ s experiment with the same enthusiasm .
GCSE and A level chemistry involves learning about key practical skills that will be examined at the end of the course . We have enjoyed plenty of opportunities to carry out practical work this year , including work on titrations , rates of reaction , and organic synthesis .
In June , the Lower Sixth chemists took part in our school analyst competition . They used their teamwork and practical skills to complete a range of analytical tasks to identify unknown substances and solve challenging real-world problems . There were some excellent hands-on skills on display , as well as lots of independent research to answer some difficult follow-up questions . Well done to all involved , and congratulations to the winning team of Maddie Parkinson , Anna Wraith and Isadora Philip – superb work !
In June , seven Lower Sixth students took part in the Cambridge Olympiad Competition , which aims to stretch and challenge
26 THE POCKLINGTONIAN