Friday afternoon saw the grand final of the half term’s Wacky Rally – culmination of all the hard work that has been going on around school over the past 5 weeks.
From children in Reception to our oldest engineers, each team produced a powered vehicle and design portfolio ready to showcase and explain on the day. With 6 pupils from each year group already on the podium, there was fierce competition to sell each concept, road test the finished project and fight for the victor’s crown!
Our panel of judges represented all areas of the professional STEM world… Mr Hands works at Rolls Royce and had jet engine experience to talk to the children about… Mrs Disney works as a scientist for the environmental agency and was keen to see renewable energy in action… Mrs Armour works at the University and deals with the anatomy of insects – she was keen to see how children had learnt from animals when it comes to movement and motion and Mr Condon… a keen STEM ambassador and BGS scientist who champions science at Willow Brook. It was clear that they were not disappointed!
Our science assemblies had brought the First Law of Thermodynamics and the concept that energy is not created or destroyed, merely transformed or transferred to life and children spoke intuitively about how their creations moved. Stored energy and harnessed wind power battled against electrical circuits and simple pushes in a race to the finish.
After spending some tie with the judges, our winners were announced…
Mazie and Ivy from Year 4 took the crown, with Robert from Year 2 in second place and Harrison and Junior the final contenders on the rostrum. Their fabulous creations were superb examples of all that had been explored and taught this term – it was, without a doubt, a marvelous project!
Watch out for more pictures of the vehicles and their design board later in the week.
