Year 10 and Year 12 students from UTC Leeds put their skills to the test during the ‘Technology Tournament for Schools’ event at the John Charles Sports Centre.
The tournament, which took place on Monday 10th March and was organised by The Rotary Clubs of Leeds, is an event which aims to encourage the use and development of enterprise skills of young people.
Each school participating in the tournament could enter up to three teams. The UTC entered two teams from Year 10 and one team from Year 12. In total, there were 51 teams competing.
Students arrived at the event unaware of the task ahead, which was based on a real-life issue. Teams were required to work together in order to design, develop, build and test a model from limited resources, such as dowel, tape, cardboard, wood, elastic bands and so on. The students were challenged to create an environmentally friendly vehicle.
Each team’s invention was then assessed by a small panel of Rotarians and industrialists with suitable backgrounds – who also give small hints and tips throughout the day.
Three winners were announced at the end of the tournament, one for each category of ‘beginners’, ‘intermediates’ and ‘advanced’. Neil Copsey, Head of KS5, said, “Although none of our teams received first place and no runners-up were announced, it was encouraging to hear from the judges that they felt our Year 12 team in particular was ‘exemplary’!”
He added, “Overall, the students had a fantastic day and thoroughly enjoyed putting their creativity and problem-solving skills to the test.”
