Celebrating our industrious students

Education and industry are essential companions so when Itchen College decided to recognise the achievements of its outstanding students aiming for a career in industry, BP Oil in Hamble was happy to assist.

In the first of the BP-Itchen awards, eighteen year old Thomas Pearson was awarded the BP-Itchen Award for most Outstanding Student in Chemistry and eighteen year old Madelaine O’Brien was awarded the BP-Itchen Award for most Outstanding Student in Environmental Science. Both students were nominated by their teachers who felt that their performance, involvement and effort excelled throughout their studies.

Thomas and Madelaine were each presented with a prize cup by BP’s Kenneth MacCallum, Storage Operations Supervisor, and Helen Fowler, BP’s Environment Advisor, during an educational visit to the BP Hamble terminal. The visit, arranged especially for the students by BP as a reward for their achievements, included a tour of the site which highlighted the various aspects of the industry on a local, as well as global, scale. They visited the terminal’s environmentally friendly Bio Remediation and Wetland areas and followed the routes that various products make through the terminal. A highlight for the students was scaling one of the numerous giant storage tanks.

Itchen’s Principal Barry Hicks said, "It’s beneficial for students to be able to see the relevance of what they learn in the classroom in practical industrial situations. Our link with BP was of great benefit to Thomas and Madelaine and we will continue to work together to ensure that it will benefit more of our students."

Madelaine, who gained four grade As in her A-levels, will go onto university to study the four year BSc in Environmental Science with a year in industry. Of winning the award she said, "I feel really privileged to have won as I know others worked really hard too. It’s really nice to be recognised."

Said Thomas, "Winning this award has really boosted my confidence in my own chemistry skills. I really enjoyed the visit to BP, it’s given me a real insight into the oil industry and the knowledge that I will go onto bigger and better things after I graduate." He hopes to go on to study a four year Masters degree in Chemistry.

September 2009