Willow International School students win prestigious global science competition

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Willow International School students win prestigious global science competition

12:50 CAT | 27 Jun 2019

Photo: Supplied

Cambridge International is pleased to announce that a team from Willow International School has won the Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition for the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

Willow International School’s winning entry was one of 40 in the region and 257 worldwide.

Their winning project involved the reduction of extruded polystyrene foam into carbon and its use in a group-designed water filter.

Dr A Hussain said: ‘We are extremely glad to hear about the success of our students and school. Thanks go to Cambridge International for their support in preparing the students for life. We appreciate the way they prepare the children and provide support and services worldwide.’

The school received a letter of recognition celebrating the success, and every team member received a medal.

The competition saw Cambridge students studying for Cambridge IGCSEs or O Levels investigate their own choice of scientific topics. Small teams, each supported by a teacher, spent 20 to 25 hours on a science project involving practical or investigative work outside of normal curriculum time. The students were tasked with producing a report and presenting their evidence and conclusions to their school through visual media such as PowerPoint presentations and posters.

Submitted projects were internally assessed by a teacher in the school, with marking criteria provided by Cambridge International.

Projects that achieved high marks were awarded a Gold, Silver or Bronze certificate. Those deemed gold standard were then submitted to Cambridge International for recognition in the regional and international categories of the competition and judged by a panel of leading international science and education experts.

The aim of the competition was to give learners the chance to develop their passion for science and to promote attributes of a Cambridge learner through collaboration, communication, innovation and creativity.

Tristian Stobie, Director, Education, Cambridge International, said: ‘This is a significant achievement that deserves to be celebrated, and reflects well on the successful students and the schools.

‘The students’ enthusiasm and commitment and understanding of science was evident in their work and we hope they have found the competition to be a rewarding experience.’

The overall international winner of the competition was a team from Jayshree Periwal International School, India, in the South Asia region, who put together a project entitled ‘Live or Dye? Negative impacts of synthetic dyes’. The project was an investigation into the effect of synthetic food colour dyes on the respiration and growth of yeast, a subject directly relevant to the everyday lives of the students.

The school will receive a plaque of recognition from Cambridge International, in addition to the team certificates and medals.

The expert judging panel included Dr Helen Eccles, ex-Director of Cambridge International and Science Competition Lead, Dr Rachel Garsed, Senior Engineer at CMR Surgical, Dr Elaine Wilson, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University and Dr Judith Roberts, Head of Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary, Development, Cambridge International.

A statement from the panel said: ‘The judges would like to commend all the entries for the high quality of investigations performed for this competition.

‘We read all the entries with real pleasure and were pleased to see evidence of strong scientific research techniques as well as excellent practical science skills. The subject matter across all regions was wide and varied, and it was pleasing to see many groups explicit in their interest of a local or global issue.’

Source: cambridgeinternatioal.org