Scientific Challenges

It has been a stimulating and challenging time for our young scientists this month as they’ve embraced opportunities to apply their scientific skills and knowledge.

Last week, a team of six of our Year 8 pupils took part in a Faraday Challenge Day held at Somerhill.  They were tasked with designing and building an accessory for a drone within an allocated budget.  Once they had decided on an idea, the team assigned themselves jobs with responsibilities for project management, electronics and model making, the budget, health and safety, team morale, and the all-important written report.  The team designed and built a tower with a moving platform for the drone to land on.  This incorporated a light which was green to indicate that the platform was down and free for landing, but turned red once the drone had landed to show that the platform door had closed to keep the drone dry.

The Language of Learning was in action as they persevered and showed resilience and positivity to troubleshoot and get their model working.  At the end of the session they presented their model to the audience of other competitors and answered questions posed by the judge.  Our team worked brilliantly together and won the event, earning themselves £10 vouchers, certificates and a Faraday Challenge Day plaque for the school.  They now proceed through to the National finals.

Earlier this month some of our Year 5 and 6 pupils competed in the regional heat of the National Quiz Club Science Championships.  The event took place online and the teams answered a whole range of challenging questions from across the sciences and world of technology.  Out of 37 schools taking part our two teams came 5th and 12th, with our 5th place team going through to the semi-finals.