In June, twenty-one Lower 6 chemists took part in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, a gruelling competition in which participants had to apply their chemical knowledge beyond the specification and were encouraged to think about Chemistry in the way they would at university. Questions this year saw competitors learning about the fascinating element Bismuth. Surrounded on the Periodic Table by the toxic elements arsenic, antimony, mercury and thallium, bismuth metal has been used as a 'safe' alternative to lead in fishing weights and shotgun pellets. They also had to deduce the mechanism for the synthesis of the drug terbinafine, the active ingredient used to treat athlete's foot.

The Chemistry Department was delighted with the level of participation this year, as well as the high proportion of certificates awarded to Norwich School, including five gold awards. The following pupils obtained awards: 

Copper - Maddie Hallam, Josh Nirmal, Angel Li, Jamie Ng, Ben Plant, Katy Burton and Jonah Jenkinson

Silver - Edward Pearson and Nana Bekoe

Gold - Phoebe Burton, Alex Brown, Naraen Prabhakar, Jay Ambadkar and Rosemary Zhang.