Introduction.
Provided by Andrea Doherty - Y13 Class of 2003/4

Chemistry is a valuable subject to all pupils here at Loreto College in Coleraine.  In past years it has been noticed that many pupils have chosen to follow a university course which involves chemistry.  Just in 2002, 23 pupils out of an overall 87 chose a career associated with chemistry. That is 26.4% of all the pupils.  Over the years the number of pupils taking on chemistry for A-level has fluctuated.  This year, however saw the highest number of entrants with 33 pupils doing the subject.  There was also a large influx of students in the year 1999-2000 with 28 pupils entered for A-level.  In 2002-2003 ,however there was a different story- only 18 pupils took on chemistry.  Despite this, the increase of 15 pupils in one year proves that interest in chemistry has been boosted.  The table and graph below show the number of pupils taking on chemistry since 1992. The school intake remained quite static (120 + or - 3) throughout this period.

  Here, at Loreto College , the grades in chemistry have been consistently good.  The bar chart below shows the percentage of pupils receiving A-C grades each year.  This too has fluctuations.  One interesting and encouraging observation for me was the fact that, just last year, 100% of the A2 pupils received either an A or B grade - difficult footsteps to follow!

 We would like to ask you to provide our pupils with information on your job so that our pupils can get an insight into your line of work.  We would like to contribute more to the advancement of chemistry - by training more chemists here and encouraging more to keep it going at university. What would the World be like now, had the Great Chemists (like Pasteur, Haber, Le Chatelier and Avogadro) chosen humanities or languages instead? 

WRITE TO US!!

We'd really like you to help us.  My peers need help to decide wisely. Which occupation is suited to which attributes and aspirations.  Can you help?  We would love to hear from you! Just describe to us the general outline of your job including and perhaps try to include reference to the following questions: -

  What is a typical day like for you at work?

  Roughly, what is your salary (simple generic examples will do)?

  Is it true that money is far from the most important thing concerning your work?

  How enjoyable and satisfying is your job?

  Is it more suited to males or females?

  Are there any "conditions of service" associated with your work that you find annoying or unnecessary.

  Do you have to do any extra work at home?

  Are there any other questions that we should be asking?

Which personal attributes are most appropriate for your job?

Should people who want to do your job present themselves in a certain way?  Please tell us how a person should look if this is an important aspect.  Also we would like to know if any particular personal skills that are necessary, or if they’d simply improve your chances of employment.

Please address it to our teacher and webmaster Mr Scullion.
Postal address: Loreto College, Castlerock Road, Coleraine. BT51 3JZ
Email: knalica@yahoo.co.uke

Please click here to go to our questionnaire.

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