Students cement their interest in local industry
Year 9 students from The Queen’s School, Chester, were faced with an explosive experience during a recent field trip to support their GCSE chemistry studies.
The 57-strong group donned hard hats and fluorescent safety jackets for their visit to Castle Cement’s Padeswood works and nearby limestone quarry. There they saw thousands of tons of limestone being blasted away from the quarry wall. They also climbed to the top of the lofty cement kiln tower at the cement works to gain an appreciation of the very large scale of this very important industrial process.
Castle Cement is the UK arm of Heidelberg Cement, the worldwide building materials group. Heidelberg Cement was founded in Germany in 1873 and now employs 36,000 people in 50 countries.
Mrs Catherine Buckley, head teacher of The Queen’s School, encourages trips such as this, to inspire the students outside the classroom as well as inside. She said: “We want the teaching at Queen’s to fire the girls’ imaginations. We have future leaders of industry in our classrooms today and we want to ensure that there are no limits to their ambitions, particularly in traditionally male-dominated fields such as science.”
Chemistry teacher, Mr Abell, said “We were so grateful that Castle Cement made our visit so eventful. We were able to see industrial chemistry at first hand and understand how it affects our lives”
Year 9 pupil, Jenny Moore, thoroughly enjoyed the experience: “It was even more exciting than I expected. The blast at the quarry was excellent”
Classmate Katie MacKay added: “I didn’t realise that I lived so close to such an important industry.”
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For more information and photos (300dpi) visit:
http://www.marketingprojects.co.uk/clientpo/the-queens-school-chester-cheshire
Captions
090324 Cement I.jpg – (left to right) Amy Fields, Year 9, age 13, Chester and Eleanor Jones, Year 9, age 14 Chester.
090324 Cement II.jpg – Queen’s girls visit Castle Cement
Press Contact:
Mrs Jane Taylor, The Queen’s School, City Walls Road, Chester, CH1 2NN
Tel: 01244 312078 Fax: 01244 321507
Email: jtaylor@queens.cheshire.sch.uk
The Queen’s School, Chester, Cheshire is one of the country’s leading independent schools for girls aged 4 – 18. We have a nationally renowned reputation for academic excellence and our girls consistently achieve outstanding results at GCSE and A level.
Our school celebrates young women and their potential. We prepare our girls to face their future with self-belief, energy and a ‘can do’ philosophy. Academic success is only one aspect of life at Queen’s and all girls are encouraged to explore their abilities, interests and passions in a wide range of extra-curricular activities. From drama, art and music to sports, community work and overseas adventures, the girls benefit from an education of the whole person, experiencing new challenges inside and outside the classroom.
At The Queen’s School, we seek to develop in each student a risk-taking spirit, leadership abilities, confidence and a love of learning. Our individual approach ensures each girl has the support she needs to thrive and succeed throughout her time here.
The school inhabits elegant Georgian and Victorian buildings, situated in a beautiful setting within walking distance of historic Chester. These surroundings prove a constant reminder of the heritage and traditional values that have shaped the school for more than 130 years.
Mrs Catherine Buckley is the headmistress of The Queen’s School with Mrs Felicity Taylor as head of the Lower School on Liverpool Road. The school has a number of bursaries available to very able students.
Past pupils include Beth Tweddle, Olympic Gymnast, Sarah Kelly, founder of the UK’s Neuromuscular Centre for muscular dystrophy and Vivienne Faull, the first woman to become Dean of an English Cathedral.
More information available from www.queens.cheshire.sch.uk
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