Students at Felsted School have been praised by regional professional bodies for competition entries demonstrating their creative engineering solutions to everyday problems.
A self-charging Chromebook designed by 11-year-old Felsted Prep School pupil Bella was judged the winner of the East of England CEO Award in The National Young Leaders Award in Engineering Competition, which this year attracted hundreds of entries from primary and secondary pupils across the country.
Bella’s idea for generating electricity to power the laptop by typing on the keyboard was considered by the judges to have potential real-world application, and she was presented with a trophy and certificate at a ceremony held at Anglia Ruskin University on 22 June.
Every Year 6 Felsted pupil who entered their own innovative designs for the competition was rewarded with at least a Merit, 14 achieving Distinctions. Five Felsted designs were put through to the national final.
‘The standard of application was very high,’ commented the judging panel. ‘These were well thought-out designs which were described well and made judging a pleasure. The ideas were excellent and the winning designs solved problems in innovative ways.’
Older engineering students at Felsted also had success in this year’sCSES TEXPO: Schools’ Technology Exhibition, run by the Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society, with 18-year-old Amy winning the Major Challenge Trophy for her design for a ‘hanging study chair’. An outdoor activity toy for a child with special educational needs designed by Felsted Year 11 student Amalee was awarded the prize for the best executed project, while a fire pit design by Jessica was judged to be the project that demonstrated the most enterprise; Tom W’s fire pit with an integral grill and Tom S’s bespoke fireguard were ‘highly commended’.
Head of Design Technology and Engineering at Felsted, Mr Mick Pitts comments; “Pupils of all ages at Felsted School take part in Design Technology and Engineering (DTE), which helps to develop thinking and communication skills while supporting the creative realisations of ideas using materials such as wood, metal and plastics.”
Categories: Felsted School School News
