A team of Year 8 pupils from Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School (TIGHS) have won a prestigious chemistry competition.

Faatimah Molvi, Ammaarah Patel, Safa Moosa and Aaminah Issa competed in the Festival of Chemistry at the University of Manchester, which was organised by the Salters’ Institute and Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).

The aim of the competition was to promote the appreciation of chemistry and related sciences amongst the young, by encouraging them to take part in fun, practical chemistry activities with team working and independent problem-solving skills.

The students worked in groups to complete two challenges in the university laboratories.

The first saw the TIGHS pupils competing in the Salters’ Challenge to identify the missing element from a range of samples by carrying out chromatography and solubility tests. The University Challenge, which followed, pitted teams against one another to establish the densities of different coloured salts to arrange them into a rainbow formation.

Professors from the university and members of the RSoC shadowed the teams to judge them on their approach, tidiness and their responses.

After successfully completing both challenges, the TIGHS team was awarded first place, with each of the pupils receiving a molecular model (molymod) set in recognition of their achievement.

Asia Ali, Assistant Principal of TIGHS, said: “Our team of brilliant pupils showed that the girls can more than hold their own in the world of science. We are so proud of them for winning the Festival of Chemistry.”