9 December 2022
Mr Paul Rickard, Head of Science
Woldingham’s team of chemists – Bella (Year 11), Caitlin (Year 10), and Laura and Kewbie (Year 9) – very successfully completed a series of challenging chemistry practical tasks and a multiple choice test to win their heat of 'Top of the Bench', a national competition, run by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Woldingham’s Science Department was delighted to host this heat on Wednesday 7 December, welcoming teams from seven local schools: Cheam High, Croydon High, Ewell Castle, Prior’s Field, Reigate Grammar, Sackville and St John’s, Leatherhead.
Students were split by year group across three of our laboratories to compete in a series of tasks ranging from titrations (Year 11) and ion identification (Year 10), to producing solutions of copper(II) sulfate (Year 9). After the practical work, the competitors completed a test which stretched their understanding of chemistry. The event was an excellent opportunity to share our fabulous laboratories and resources and it was inspiring to see such engagement from all the students involved.
The competition was fiercely fought, so we were thrilled our team narrowly won this heat – congratulations to them all. It was a superb showing of both subject knowledge and accomplished dexterity when handling laboratory apparatus. The results from heats around the country will be known at the end of January, at which point the highest scoring teams will be invited to take part in the grand final at a UK university. Good luck Woldingham! A special thank you to Head of Chemistry Mr Currie for organising such a well-run competition.
