Caterham Wins Gold at Royal Holloway National Psychology Competition

On Wednesday, Lower Sixth psychologists Holly D, Sienna A, George K, Isabelle P and Hannah B competed against 24 other schools from across the country to win first place in the National Psychology Competition at Royal Holloway University. In preparation for the competition, pupils were tasked with creating a two-minute video and A1 academic poster responding to the prompt ‘How can psychologists/psychology promote healthier working environments in schools?’.

After undertaking extensive research, Caterham pupils chose to focus on the environmental factors that influence physical and mental health, for example, classroom layout, lighting, seating arrangements, temperature, greenery, noise and colour. Pupils drew from a variety of sources to inform their recommendations for schools on ways to promote healthy working environments.

On the day, teams had to present their scientific poster and tackle challenging questions from the esteemed judging panel. Pupils also attended several talks from senior lecturers at Royal Holloway, including Dr Gemma Northan who spoke to the pupils about her field of neuropsychology and modern techniques for studying the living brain, and Language and Cognition Professor Jessie Rickets who spoke about her research into the relationship between reading, vocabulary and reading comprehension. 

Very well done to the team for their excellent display of teamwork and leadership, thorough research and confident presentations applying psychological theory to real life.

Watch the team’s winning video here: https://vimeo.com/949493299