b'The NewsSenior SchoolChemistry Olympiad Historical Walking Tour A group of Year 12 and 13 pupilsAfter their exams, Year 11 History pupils took part in the Chemistry Olympiadwere treated to an afternoon out in the Competition for the first time at The BSA. Plantage neighbourhood of Amsterdam. The UK Chemistry Olympiad is an annual event attractingHere they attended a walking tour from the pupils from schools world-wide to demonstrate theirResistance Museum about WW2 and the Holocaust knowledge and skills in the field of Chemistry.Ourin Amsterdam. Pupils were shocked to learn about pupils showcased their scientific acumen taking partthe persecution of Jewish, Sinti, and Roma people in in the prestigious competition. James and Veronikatheir own city and understand some of the darker achieved Silver awards, positioning themselves inhistory behind the beautiful buildings of Plantage. the top 20% of 11828 candidates internationally. Both Kiran and Antoni received Bronze. They learned about buildings that we used as The competition is designed to academically extenddeportation centres to concentration camps, and the and inspire A-level Chemistry pupils. Our pupilsefforts of the Resistance to destroy the records office diligently prepared for the challenge during the Mondayand smuggle out children. The pupils were particularly lunch-time club.On reflection, a couple of themmoved by the Holocaust Memorial and the sheer commented that it was a tremendous opportunityvolume of names there started to expose the realityto develop my critical problem-solving skills andof what happened in Amsterdam invaluable help for my A-level mock exams. during the occupation. As Chemistry is a popular subject chosen atAfterwards, pupils enjoyed pizza in the A-Level in The BSA, we can expect more of ourWerheimpark, chatting about history pupils to excel in coming years; but for now, huge congratulations go to our 2023 competitors! and their own plans for the future.Zuiderzee Museum review: by Noa and SophiaYear 9 Dutch pupils set off for a trip to the Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen to learn about the history of this part of the Netherlands. We learned how the Afsluitdijk was built to protect theWe learnt that the museum was created by transporting country from floods due to rising sea levels. As a result,buildings from old fishing villages by boat and putting the water turned from salt to sweet which killed thethem altogether in one town. After lunch, we split the salt water fish, causing fishermen to lose their jobs.group in half and half of the group got to build their The museum is a testimony of the old Dutch lifestyle. own miniature dams using sand, rope and rocks. We saw how the civilians of old fishing townsThe other group toured the town with a Dutch lived and what their everyday life was like. Wespeaking guide, watched footage of the old town were split up into individual groups accompaniedand played a game where everyone stood in two by a teacher. We visited the small houses andlines and threw sacks of sand down the line. This shops and got to look inside the museum.was to show how the old dam was built.18'