RGS Teams Showcase Expertise in Chemistry Competition

Two teams comprising four pupils from Years Nine to Eleven competed in the annual ‘Top of the Bench’ Chemistry Preliminary Round Quiz at Birmingham University. As soon as the competition date was announced, our team, ably led by Year Eleven pupil Sihan Fu, met the week before to brush up on many aspects of GCSE Chemistry standards and beyond Chemistry.

On the day, pupils had to work together in various groupings to complete written paper-based quizzes and came together for the final round. They were pushed to the limit in their general knowledge of Chemistry and a series of problem-solving challenges involving some tricky calculations. 

We were kept on edge for 48 hours before the results were announced. From a field of 21 teams from schools across the West Midlands, our team ‘Copper’ comprising of Sihan Fu, Arthur Hasling, Isabelle Gabriel and Lexie Small, was placed 2nd. Team ‘Zinc’, comprising of Rachel Crookhall, Denis Goodwillie-Green, Michael McCabe and Xanthe Carrington-Abraham, came 9th. Such results are impressive, boding well for the future of RGS Chemistry.

We await the announcement of details for the final round, which is scheduled to take place at the University in mid-January. This will involve a group of practical tasks to be undertaken in the undergraduate laboratories.

Dr William Stephen, Teacher of Chemistry