St Oscar Romero Catholic School School wins 4th national STEM competition

For this year’s IOA Secondary School Competition, an all-girl team from St Romero’s took on the challenge ofinvestigating the connection between acoustics and ecology, specifically birds.

The effects of sound on wildlife is a critical consideration for the improvement of biodiversity. Emily Clarke, Isla Parker and Orla Keane described the soundscape in four acoustically different locations, and looked at how this affected the species observed at each location.

Angela Lamacraft, IOA Council Member, said: “The entry from Orla, Emily and Isla at St Oscar Romero Catholic School stood out as being exceptionally well thought out, with good descriptions of each stage and a very professional presentation.”

Also judging the competition this year was Gloria Elliott OBE, who said: "Congratulations to the pupils at St Oscar Romeo who produced a particularly thoughtful and professional local Soundscape presentation."

Peter Clarke, Head of Physics at St Romero’s said: “The three students produced an amazing entry, and really developed their scientific thinking skills along the way. It is great to see girls taking part in STEM-related activities outside of lessons, and succeeding in a national competition."

This latest award for the school follows national success in 2021 and 2022 IoA competitions, as well as the BigBang Competition 2020.

Peter Byrne, Headteacher at St Romero’s said: “I am incredibly proud of our national winners and would like to thank Mr Clarke, Head of Physics, who continues to inspire our more able scientists. Winning a STEM competition like this will inevitably open doors for these students.”