Christ Church C of E First School in Frome is celebrating the success of two pupils at the South West Leaders Primary Engineer and Secondary Engineer Leaders Awards.
2,700 children from across the south-west region were invited to solve a problem with an engineering design as part of a challenge entitled ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’
Stella and Xane, both aged 5 and in reception at Christ Church, were named ‘winner’ and ‘highly commended’ respectively in their category for designing bins to cope with waste in an innovative way. Stella collected her trophy at a ceremony held at the University of the West of England (UWE) on 29th June.
Explaining his ‘highly commended’ rubbish bin design, Xane said, “You can post rubbish through the special box so it doesn’t blow back out when it’s windy.”
About her winning design, ‘The Remote Bin’, Stella said, “I drew a picture of a bin and decorated it with pretty things to tempt people to use it. It takes non-recyclable things and turns them into recyclable things, then puts them into the person’s recycling bin.”
Mrs L’Esteve, science subject leader at Christ Church and class teacher to Stella and Xane said, “We are all surprised and delighted that one of our pupils is a regional winner! Entering the national Primary Engineer competition has been so much fun for our children and staff. It was wonderful to see children so motivated and empowered by the thought that their designs and inventions could help to make the world a better place.”
Rupert Kaye, headteacher of Christ Church said, “A couple of years ago, we made a strategic decision to provide more exciting, practical learning opportunities in science, technology and maths (STEM). Our goal at Christ Church is for children of all ages to see themselves as innovators and engineers, capable of identifying problems and then working with others to find solutions.
“Having looked through the children’s competition entries, I am thrilled to think that our planet’s future will be shaped by a new generation of kind, compassionate, creative problem-solvers.”
This is the first time the competition has run in the south-west since it was founded five years ago. The competition saw entries from 37,000 children and young people overall across the UK.
The Leaders Awards are STEM programmes designed to encourage children from as young as five and up to 19 to engage with engineers who convey the importance and the ubiquity of engineering in everybody’s lives – from the houses they live in to the technology and tools they use, from the multiple transport systems they travel on and the food they eat. Schools develop relationships with industry, both local and worldwide, which give pupils a unique perspective of professions and their significance in the wider world.
More information about the Leaders Awards can be found at www.primary engineer.com.
