Tomorrow’s Scientists Achieve Silver CREST Awards

Twelve students studying science at Cronton Sixth Form – Luke Baker, Sophie Cameron, Michael Cooke, Rebekah Hanrey, Sarah Hockenhall, Amy Littler, Gareth Maher, Amy Milne, Anastasia Rybina, Sophie Shaw, Connor Simpson and Jade Griffith Williams – are celebrating after receiving Silver CREST Awards (Creativity in Science and Technology).

The Silver CREST Awards are highly respected within the scientific community and are designed to provide curriculum enhancement. They are typically open to students able to complete around 30 hours of research on a scientific project of their choosing.
The talented students each researched an area of microbiology that has relevance to modern life in the twenty first century, and gives an insight on the role of effective antiseptics in medicine and the importance of hygiene in prevention of the spread of infection.
Some of the projects chosen by the students included; a comparison on the effect of hand sanitisers with and without alcohol on the colonies of bacteria swabbed from the hand, a comparison of the effect of an antiseptic and herbal mouth wash on the growth of M.luteus, and a comparison of the effectiveness of hand drying methods on the numbers of bacterial colonies on the fingers following handwashing.
The students presented their findings as a biological report at the College’s brand new science facilities and wrote a presentation for the rest of the group.
John Hatton, Head of The Centre of Excellence for Science and Maths at Cronton, commented, “We are extremely proud of our students for their hard work in the CREST awards. An outstanding level of commitment was demonstrated throughout the projects, as they were carried out in addition to their studies at college.”