Tollbar Scientists Look To A More Sustainable Future As They Win National Competition
Tollbar Academy STEM Club students who have won a national Science competition focused on renewable energy. With them (centre, back) are Aidan Wilkins (Curriculum Leader for Science) and Elle Anderson (Assistant Curriculum Leader for Science).
Tollbar Academy students have beaten off competition from schools across the UK to win a national Science challenge focused on renewable energy.
The STEM Club students took part in ‘Aspire to Engineer: The Renewables Challenge’ hosted by Big Ideas. Judges described their entry as “a very comprehensive piece of work. They said students “showed lots of evidence of working as a team and learning from each other.”
The students won £500 for the Academy, which will be spent on a Science trip as part of their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) enrichment. They will also attend a special digital event in May 2022 to celebrate the work of all students who participated in the competition.
‘Aspire to Engineer: The Renewables Challenge’ is a UK-wide schools STEM challenge, aimed at Key Stage 2 and 3 students. In partnership with the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, the competition aims to introduce students to the world of engineering and inspires them to explore the contributions engineers make to the world. Engineering can offer young people in the UK fantastic careers and opportunities. The UK needs 1.8 million new engineers and technicians by 2025.
Judges from the Royal Commission said Tollbar Academy students won first prize because of “their passionate debate, the amount of research and the variety of activity they undertook, and the inventive ways they shared the project with the wider school.”
The students who took part were Fynn Adcock, Keyvan Fenech, Aaron Hager, Chloe Whitton, Edward Byrne, Dylan Westerby, Amelia Targett, Talisha Gibson, Lauren Harrison, Maja Bruce, Lilian Blake, and Jacob Hood.
They had to create a debate on renewable energy and argue points for and against it. They produced a power point presentation which was shared with form tutors and shown to more than 1,000 students at the Academy. It included questions and answers for students encouraging them to consider Science and Engineering as a future career.
Year 11 student and STEM Club member Keyvan Fenech (16) said: “I found it really interesting researching renewables and finding out the pros and cons. I am definitely pro renewable energy, but I understand that the technology is not quite there yet so I found it comfortable to argue against it in the debate.”
Fellow Year 11 student Fynn Adcock (15) said: “The challenge really made us work together as a team and consider the arguments on both sides. I think we all collaborated very well and we are proud to have won this challenge.”
Aidan Wilkins, Curriculum Leader for Science, said: “I am extremely proud of every member of our STEM Club. They have put in a tremendous amount of work for this competition and to win it is fantastic, both for them and for the Academy.
“Science at Tollbar Academy is all about understanding the world around us and inspiring the younger generation to challenge pre-existing ideas and solve problems in the world that we face.
“One of the biggest problems we face as a society is our reliance on fossil fuels. These students know that for them to have a sustainable future we must look at other resources for our energy. Our students have looked at this very objectively, using the scientific method discussed within their Science lessons, in order to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of using renewable energy. The teamwork and dedication to this project has been exceptional.”
Year 11 students Fynn Adcock and Keyvan Fenech are part of the STEM Club who took part in ‘Aspire to Engineer: The Renewables Challenge’ hosted by Big Ideas. The Tollbar Academy STEM team won first prize.
