Pledge Members Support Local School Competition

Representatives from seven South Tyneside Pledge organisations have offered their professional advice and expertise to students from Harton Primary School in South Shields, who are taking part in a national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition.

The Children from year 5 and 6 are taking part in the First Lego League Challenge’s Innovation Project, which will see schools from across the country taking part in a competition designed to inspire the next generation of engineers and technicians.

Pupils are tasked with conducting a project in which they have to identify a problem, and design and share an innovative. They will compete in a regional tournament, followed bya national presentation with a panel of judges.

This year’s theme for the challenge is called ‘Submerged’ and is based around how and why people explore the oceans. The pupils from Harton Primary are looking to reduce the amount of plastic waste getting into the North Sea. They propose to implement a ‘bubble curtain’ across the River Tyne that would catch and filter plastic waste into a container to stop it reaching the Sea.

The panel of Pledge members listened to the children’s well researched and expertly delivered presentation during two sessions held at Inspire South Tyneside. They offered questions and feedback to help shape their final presentation ahead of the upcoming regional tournament in March.

Speaking about the project, Lee Forster, Computing Subject Lead from Harton Primary said:

“This project is the result of all the hard work the children have put into it – from September when the season started – and all the help we have received from various professionals in the field of our innovation idea. The help from the staff at Inspire has been invaluable, not just by linking the children with the local businesses and organisations (which adds more detail and expertise to our project) but the opportunity for the children to pitch their idea, explain the research they have done and take on board advice from experts in a multitude of fields around our project.”

Lee continued:

“These events at Inspire that the children have been able to put on in order to showcase their innovation project has allowed them to demonstrate their own understanding of their work, as well as building their confidence talking to adults outside of the school environment – which is great practice for delivering their idea to a panel of judges at our regional competition at The Word in March. They are very confident heading into our first competition with the help provided by Inspire and all the people who volunteered their time to listen to our STEM project idea.”

Cllr Margaret Meling, cabinet member for economic growth and transport at South Tyneside Council, added:

“This is a fantastic project that really helps to inspire young minds, and we wish the children every success with the competition. We are very thankful to our South Tyneside Pledge organisations who see the value in supporting such projects, working with local schools to highlight local career opportunities and help raise aspirations.”

Best of luck to the pupils for the Finals!

A huge thank you to the following Pledge members for their support:

Cell Pack solutions (Eddie Czestochowski)
DME Systems LTD (Darren Coombe)
Far North (Ian Farrar)
Groundworks (Andrew Watts)
Maritime Trust (Terry, Alec, and Kevin)
Safesol (Vicki Morrison)
Wellbeing Challenge CIC (Nick Roberts)