Toot Hill travels to the National Final of the Big Bang Competition

Our year 8/9 STEM club exhibited at the Big Bang Fair & another 60 year 9/10 students came along too (STEM Pathways - 16/03/2018)

As you may have read about in Ruschliffe Local News, six year 8 and 9 students from Toot Hill's STEM club traveled to Birmingham to exhibit their project at the National Finals of the Big Bang Competition. The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK. So it is an honour that the team were invited to exhibit after winning the online regional heats for the East Midlands with their project DERVEx: A Device for Energy Recovery from Vehicle Exhausts.

The judges were very impressed with the project and gave some tremendously positive feedback (particularly given that the entire project took only 5 weeks from concept to completion) and while we didn't come away with the national prize, it was nonetheless a tremendous achievement and rewarding experience.

Heartfelt congratulations go to Tom Middleton, Joe Smith, Joel Bingham, Hasan Raoof, Dave Wood and Reuben Willis who should each take pride in what they achieved and how they conducted themselves at the fair. (pictured left to right)

Of course we wanted more than just the six of them to experience the Fair though, so a busload of sixty year 9 and 10 students also made the trip to see, not only the Toot Hill team exhibit, but the whole show floor full of exciting theatre shows, interactive workshops and exhibits and careers information from STEM professionals.

Thanks go to all 66 students and particularly to the four staff who came along and enjoyed what I'm sure all agree was a tremendously positive experience.

More pictures and information to be updated soon on toothillschool.co.uk/STEM and the whole experience can be followed on twitter @TootHillSTEM.

Look out for more STEM initiatives coming soon.