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Pupils turn CSI at chemistry festival

Lecture centre at night

More than 50 pupils from schools in Hillingdon including Uxbridge High School and Bishopshalt School turned scientific sleuths at Brunel University London last week. (March 15 and 17).

As part of National Science and Engineering Week, they were split into teams of four and used their new-found analytical skills to take part in a competitive, hands-on, practical activity – “Murder comes to Salterstown”.

Under the watchful eye of Brunel’s Dr Jane Essex, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Year 7 and 8 students learned a range of techniques used by real-life forensic scientists.

The two, day-long events also marked two firsts for the university. It was the first time it had been chosen to host Salters' Festivals of Chemistry, an initiative of The Salters' Institute, whose aim is to promote chemistry and related sciences, and the first time it had held an outreach event accessible to pupils with special needs.