Full speed ahead for St Cuthbert’s

The race was on, when four Year 8 students from St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School made it through to the regional final of a prestigious Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) competition.

Team ‘Lightspeed’ were tasked with designing, creating, and racing their own model ‘Formula One’ car, as part of the international STEM Racing challenge.

“The competition is based around several elements – project management, manufacturing and engineering the miniature F1 car, racing, graphics, and social media,” said the school’s Head of Design and Technology, Michelle Alexander, who led the project alongside Design and Technology Teacher Kim Whitfield.

“The team produce a portfolio demonstrating how they worked together to achieve these goals, then, on the day, they must present a verbal presentation as a team, discuss the design and manufacturing of the car, race the car, and present a pit display to promote their team at the event.”

Now involving more than 40 countries, the annual competition was originally known as F1 in Schools, and was introduced to the UK in 1999. It comprises regional and national stages, with overall winners invited to race their creations at the World Finals each year.

St Cuthbert’s has been competing in the contest for more than ten years, with the 2015 team making it to the World Finals in Singapore. The school has also qualified for the regional finals on eight occasions, and has taken part in the UK national finals three times.

“Projects like STEM Racing are extremely important to the development of our young men, and pupils across the country, for life beyond school,” continued Miss Alexander.

“They develop the softer skills that go beyond the school curriculum that are necessary for the 21st century, such as public speaking, project management, teamwork, and independence, as well as a passion for the creative industries these skills lead into, such as engineering, graphic design, project management, and social media.”

“Any of our esteemed alumni of competitors will attest to this, as most have gone on to study these careers further, or have benefitted from these skills in their career choices,” she added. “Just recently, an ex-pupil who competed in 2015, who is now in an esteemed role in the engineering sector, said he owed it all to his time taking part in the project, and wouldn’t be where he is today without this experience.”