On Friday 13th May, six year 8 students from Teign School headed down to Plymouth University to compete against five other Southwest schools in this year’s Faraday Challenge. Every year the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) host a Nationwide challenge which aims to get students out of the classroom and into an engaging environment where they can experience STEM subjects in the real world. The aim for this year’s challenge was to design a useful and innovative addition to a soon-to-be-built children’s hospital. From the outset, Teign’s young students displayed incredible teamwork, communication, cooperation and resilience. The group gave themselves roles such as ‘project manager’, ‘accountant’, ‘engineer’ and ‘record keeper’ to drive the challenge forward. After a day of hard work, the students presented their model of a fully functioning fold-away bed, which could be used to resolve sleepless nights that family members face when visiting loved ones in hospital. As a result of their efforts, Teign School won the competition with an amazing score of 71 points out of a possible 100!

Teacher of Mathematics and Head of Year 11, Greg Duke (who organized the entry and accompanied the students on the day) said: “Teign School is very proud of the individuals who took part and brought home the well-deserved trophy. The skills employed on the day indicate that we might have some budding engineers in the making!”

Photo: Year 8 Students from left to right: Sam R, Grace G, Zara B, Izzy C, Lucie P & Joe O’N