Chemistry

Chemistry is housed in a suite of laboratories within the purpose-built science block and we have a large stake in the science department's new, modern, Sixth Form science resource room which gives pupils a pleasant environment in which to work, research scientific careers and courses, watch videos or use our comprehensive range of software. The department is scheduled for  complete refurbishment over the next few years and plans include enough network points for every pupil at every bench which, in effect, will make every laboratory a Chemistry ICT room as well.

The Chemistry staff are well-qualified and experienced. We believe in attending conferences and training sessions as regularly as possible to ensure that our ideas stay fresh. We are committed to taking a modern approach to teaching the subject, and make as wide a use of ICT facilities as possible. The department has recently undergone heavy investment in this area.

We believe in a heuristic approach to learning and have recently adopted the Salter's A level course which has proved very successful. Pupils are encouraged to learn to think for themselves and read widely about the applications of Chemistry as well as the theory.

We make use of the facilities available to us in and around Edinburgh, and have a number of useful links. Pupils attend lectures and visits and we participate in competitions such as the National RSC Top of the Bench Competition.

The Department's Aims
The Middle School Course
The Sixth Form Course

The Department's Aims

• To educate through Chemistry; that is to use Chemistry as a vehicle for teaching skills such as observing, problem-solving, manipulation and interpretation of data and the use of information technology.
  
• To stimulate and sustain interest in Chemistry and to promote the desire to acquire chemical knowledge from a wide variety of sources and by a wide variety of means.
  
• To illustrate some uses, limitations and successes of the scientific method in chemical contexts.
  
• To develop creative thinking, intellectual self-discipline and academic rigour.
  
• To impart an understanding of the role of Chemistry in industrial and post industrial society and its contribution to the well-being of mankind.
  
• To promote a sensitive but balanced attitude towards the effect of Chemistry on the environment and towards the exploitation of natural resources.
  
• To equip pupils with the chemical knowledge needed to enable them to develop into confident citizens in an increasingly complex technological world.
  
• To encourage pupils to pursue further studies in Chemistry and in related subject areas.
  
• To encourage pupils to apply their chemical knowledge to promote both their own well-being and the well-being of others.
  
• To assist pupils in reaching their academic targets by making every effort to ensure that pupils in the department get the best possible Chemistry grades.
  

The courses we offer are summarised below in extracts from internal school publications.

The Middle School Course

GCSE OCR 1981 (Extension Block A)

(Full syllabus available at www.orc.org.uk).

Certainly, anyone contemplating Science A levels or Highers should study Chemistry. Even if you are aiming to specialise in the arts for your sixth form studies, you should strongly consider Chemistry at GCSE. Chemistry is a central scientific discipline that will equip you with an understanding of natural phenomena and enable you to follow, at least, debates relating to scientific issues in later life.

The government is rightly concerned at the level of ignorance concerning science by the adult population. Do you want to have to believe the newspapers or civil servants when they argue about safety or health issues, blinded by science, or do you want to be in a position to make up your own mind based on an understanding of the facts?

GCSE Chemistry is not easy, and requires hard work, but the rewards are rich. Universities and employers recognise it as such. A good GCSE grade in Chemistry will look good whatever you intend to do. The GCSE course starts with a look at the atom, the building block of matter. The first surprise people get is that matter is mostly empty space. An understanding of how atoms combine to form the millions of materials we see on a daily basis is the foundation on which the course is built.

We then look at the Chemistry of materials. How do they react and form new substances? How can they be broken down into simpler substances? How are fireworks coloured? Are diamond and graphite really the same element? Why is glass hard and unreactive? Why does potassium explode in water whilst gold remains unreacted? Why is acid corrosive? Do they all hiss and strip your flesh to the bone or is that the stuff of science fiction? What is "hard water"? Why does it taste better than soft water, brew better beer, but leave scum and scale all over your bathroom?

With a knowledge of what matter is and how it reacts we look at some industrial processes. How is all that oil refined to make fuel and innumerable useful products? Why is aluminium so expensive and recycled given that it is the most abundant metal in the Earth‘s crust? How is fertiliser made, and what has it to do with Fritz Haber, who helped Germany so greatly in the first war and later fled the Nazis because he was a Jew? How safe are chemical plants, pesticides and medicines? Are Chemists responsible for destroying the environment or are they trying to save it? What is a catalytic converter, how does it work and why is it so expensive? How can a chemical engineer save a company millions of pounds in a year by adjusting a few valves?

We explore all of these issues and much more in what is a fascinating insight as to how man uses the resources around him to make everything you see and touch on a daily basis. Paper, ink, concrete, paints, dyes, medicine, metals, plastics, microchips, batteries, glass, food, clean water, china, clothing, computers, televisions, fuel ….. we would have none of these things but for Chemistry.

You will do a lot of practical work including an investigation worth 25% of your final mark. You will be exposed to modern equipment with as much access to computing and the Internet as we can provide. You will see exciting demonstrations and learn invaluable skills such as forming a coherent argument or explanation, interpreting and analysing data reaching a conclusion whose validity you can evaluate. Chemistry achieves a rare blend of intellectually challenging and stimulating theory with a whole wealth of practical application. Chemistry is everything.

The Sixth Form Course

The importance of Chemistry to mankind cannot be overestimated or overstated. Chemistry is the central science, bridging Physics on one side and Biology on the other. Wherever we look we will not find a man-made object that could exist without our knowledge of the way materials react and behave and our practical application of that understanding.

As a subject Chemistry will sharpen your mind and challenge you intellectually. It will stimulate an enquiring mind and satisfy the person who is not prepared to wander thoughtlessly in life from mystery to mystery, but who wants to understand how and why things work and behave. It will teach you manual dexterity, how to observe critically, how to argue a point and evaluate evidence. It will teach you how to use numbers effectively and language concisely. You will learn and use a wide range of ICT skills. No matter how far you expand as a thinker and a scientist, Chemistry will keep challenging and absorbing you further.

Universities look highly upon a good Chemistry grade at A level; they know the subject requires dedication and they understand the importance of the skills a Chemist acquires during his or her study. Similarly those with a good Chemistry degree are highly sought after; you could almost expect to name your job in or outside of science. Those who want to seek their fortune in The City would do well to research what the big employers in finance and management think of a good degree in Chemistry.

As for careers in science, Chemistry has it all from the purely theoretical and computational to practical work in the laboratory or on Chemical plants and oilrigs world-wide. Global poverty and hunger increase daily. New diseases threaten large areas of the population. Coal and oil are running out. Pollution in some areas threatens our very existence. Flooding appears to get worse year upon year. Make no mistake, the world needs Chemists desperately and will only need them increasingly. Society will have no choice but to throw more and more money at Chemists and Chemistry.

If you are aiming to study the Arts you may agree that it would be useful to have a little more knowledge of science to make you more rounded and to enable you to have a better understanding of science in adulthood. One of the purposes of the introduction of AS levels was to allow people to broaden their studies in the sixth-form. Chemistry AS would prove an excellent choice because of its central position in science and because of the nature of our new course (below) which would give you a good understanding of important scientific issues of the day.

We have just embarked on an exciting A level course, "Salters Chemistry" to replace the Edexcel course. Salters Chemistry came out of extensive research by various educational groups into the pros and cons of traditional Chemistry courses and the needs of academia and industry. The majority of schools taking up Salters over the past few years have reported increased motivation (by pupils and staff), better results and lower drop-out rates.

The course is no less academic than any other A level Chemistry course, but it links the subject to everyday application rather than presenting it as purely theoretical with the odd application as an afterthought. Industrial visits and projects form a part of the course. There is a month-long independent practical study in the second year on anything you choose. Pupils who have taken Salters in the past have described this month as the highlight of all of their A level courses.

Salters A level is brimming with key skills. Sections on how to study form a recurring part of the course itself because you will be expected to learn independently and think for yourselves. This is part of the excitement of the course and the satisfaction you will feel on its completion. You will be stimulated and encouraged but not spoon-fed.

The department has invested very heavily in the latest software and is committed to taking a modern approach to teaching the subject. You will make extensive use of ICT during the course.

The course is split into the following units:

AS

A2

(A full course syllabus can be found at www.ocr.org.uk).

AS is examined by a written exam in January and in June along with assessed practical work during the course and a two-week open book exam in May.

A2 is examined by a written exam in January and in June along with the assessed individual investigation.

The AS course is quite accessible, and would be suitable for those with a good GCSE grade in Chemistry. At the end of the AS course you will have the option to take the more challenging (but even more exciting and stimulating) A2 course. We recommend those taking Chemistry to A2 level take at least one other science. Mathematics is useful, but not essential. Chemistry is difficult for those with weak language skills and often becomes a struggle for those trying to take more than the standard number of subjects at A level.

Meet the staff

Lynden Whyte studied chemistry at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, where he obtained a first class degree. He then spent a further three years completing a PhD, researching the photochemical reactions of the atmosphere. After two years as a Chemistry teacher at Stafford Grammar School he gained promotion to Head of Science at Abbotsholme School in Derbyshire. He so enjoyed his time at this rural boarding school that he stayed for nine years gradually working his way onto the Senior Management Team as Director of Studies. Before moving to Fettes, Lynden spent two years as Head of Science at Scarborough College. He has a keen interest in football, following his beloved Liverpool and though raised in Lincolnshire, is an ardent Scotland supporter, having been bribed throughout his early years by his Scottish father.

David Goude graduated in Chemistry from Nottingham University in 1974. After spending a further three years at Nottingham researching into the reactions of liquid alkali metals he moved to Leeds University where he gained his PGCE. He came to Fettes College in 1978 with the intention of spending a couple of years experiencing teaching in Scotland. Somehow he keeps forgetting to leave. In addition to his teaching commitments he is the school's Examinations Officer and is the Assistant Housemaster (ie chief handyman) of College West.
He devotes much of his limited spare time to refurbishing his cottage (a partially converted farm granary) but when he is released from this he enjoys sailing and yomping the Yorkshire moors (provided there is a good pub at the end of the trail). He has an extensive video and DVD collection and is very proud of the fact that it contains nothing made by Disney!

Eva Young studied Applied Chemistry at the Heriot- Watt University in Edinburgh where she graduated with a first-class degree in 1969. For the next few years she worked for Shell Research in Manchester, developing new uses for plastics. On getting married, she moved back to Scotland where she completed her Teaching Certificate for Secondary Education at Moray House, Edinburgh. She began her teaching career at Kirkcaldy High School, then took a rather prolonged career break to bring up her two children. In the late 1980s she began part-time teaching again and in 1993, she took up her teaching post at Fettes College. Apart from teaching Chemistry and Science, Eva helps out with Careers and is one of the school's Deputy Child Protection Officers. She enjoys cooking, gardening and crafts.

Kate Fairbairn started teaching at Fettes in September 2006.  She is originally from Lichfield in Staffordshire, but arrived in Edinburgh in 1996 to study chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.  After finishing her BSc Kate went on to complete a PhD in inorganic chemistry, researching the extraction of metal salts. During her PhD Kate enjoyed working along side various industrial chemists. Following her PhD she then completed her PGCE and has since worked at Bannockburn High School, where she helped introduce the Eco Schools Scheme and an after school science club for younger students.  Apart from teaching Chemistry and Science, Kate is a tutor in College East and helps out with U14 girls hockey. Kate enjoys spending her free time hill walking, camping, skiing, playing tennis and travelling.

Val Murray worked for 13 years as an Analytical Chemist in the QA Department of Macfarlan Smith Ltd, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. During this time Val studied at Napier University, graduating in Chemistry in 1984. Later she gained Membership of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Chartered Chemist status. After a career break, Val joined Fettes in 1994 as Chemistry Laboratory Technician. She is responsible for the day to day running of the Prep Room and is involved in the setting up of practicals for new courses. Val‘s hobbies include gardening, D.I.Y. and watching her son playing football.

Further Information

Do not hesitate to contact the department through the Head of Chemistry on this link with any queries. Visits to the school can be arranged through the Headmaster's office, and please make it clear if you would like to arrange a time to discuss anything with the Head of Chemistry.

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