Stoney Middleton CE Primary School Claim 2nd Place in Derbyshire Engineering Design Challenge

4.35.00pm GMT Thu 26th Mar 2009

The Stoney Middleton School Team

Stoney Middleton CE Primary School have won 2nd place in the Derbyshire Engineering Design Challenge, beating some 20 teams from across Derby and Derbyshire in the annual competition.

The event, held at Ripley on 9th and 10th March attracted teams from across the county on the two days it was held. Teams were asked to design hand operated irrigation pumps which had to raise water a height of 30cm. The pumps that the teams then built were then tested to find which pumps could move the largest volume of water in thirty seconds. The Stoney Middleton scored well, pumping an impressive 4.2 litres of water during their test After initially coming second in their heat, the Stoney Middleton team's score went forward to the next day's heat, and meant that the school came second overall, beating schools with much larger primary schools in the process.

The engineering design challenge, for pupils in Years 4 to 6, is organised by Young Engineers and Scientists of Derbyshire and aims to promote the skills of engineering amongst young people. Teams are given a design brief and are awarded marks for their design and their ability to work as a team and with a customer. The Stoney Middleton team not only came second overall, but also were presented with a certificate from their heat for producing the lowest cost design. From an initial (fictitious) budget of £12,000, the school produced their pump for less than £4,000.

Headteacher, Chris Tupling, commented "As a school we have entered the Engineering Design Challenge for a number of years and have a history of doing very well. Our children have excellent team skills and as a school work very closely together. As a village primary school, to come second against teams from larger schools shows how well the children have done. Both the school and the pupils' parents are immensely proud of their achievements. We knew the children had enjoyed the day, and we thought we had done well, but are still delighted with the results."

Related Link:

Stoney Middleton School Website.