Science Week GDST Competitions

GDST Science Spelling Bee

This is an annual competition whereby Year 7 and 8 pupils have to correctly spell as many scientific words as possible in 1 minute from a list of 40 words. No mean feat I am sure you will agree.

Heats were held to find three pupils to represent the school. Ana R, Soha H and Wanizah A were selected. They were then given a new list of 40 words to learn ahead of the final held on March 14th. These were not easy words ranging from Algorithmic and Electronegative to Quotient.

Unfortunately, on the day, both Soha and Wanizah were unwell, but Ana Rose did incredibly well and achieved third place overall for Croydon High School.

STEM Writing competition

Pupils were invited to write an article of 700 words on a topic of their choice in one of three categories: Science, Technology/Engineering and Mathematics. Articles were judged on subject content, creativity and writing style.

We received many great entries on a wide variety of topics ranging from ‘Does Mindfulness really work?’ to’ The role of robotics and AI in sustainable farming’. Mrs Howgego and myself really enjoyed reading all the entries which showcased the talent and enthusiasm of our pupils. However, the rules stipulated that we were only allowed to submit two entries for each category for each Key Stage.

An independent external judge judged the submitted entries, and we are thrilled that three of our KS3 pupils reached the finals that were held at Sydenham High School on Thursday, 14 March. Mrs Conrad attended the ceremony along with the students and their parents. There were several schools represented in the finals from GDST schools, Dulwich College, James Allens’s Girls School and Townley Grammer.

We would like to congratulate the following students for their amazing achievements:
Divya S, 3rd place in the Technology category for her essay on ‘ Is Snapchat AI safe?’
Arwa K, 2nd place in the Science category for her essay ‘A Woman’s Pain’
Maha Z, 1st place in the Technology category for her essay ‘What are the Ethical Challenges for Companies Working with Artificial Intelligence?’

A final word from Maha on what winning meant to her:
The GDST STEM writing competition award ceremony was really great. The judges spoke about their careers and what they did to get where they are now. They were all so passionate about the subject they were judging, hearing them speak inspired me and now I’m determined to pursue a career in Tech. I was shocked to receive first prize for the Under 14 tech and engineering category, I really didn’t expect it, if I’m honest I was just happy to be a finalist. The one thing I will take away from the whole experience is that whatever you do in life make sure it’s something you are passionate about.

Ms Conrad
Head of Science