Bridgend youngsters win engineering challenge

Year 5 pupils from a Bridgend Primary School have won an engineering challenge designed to test their creative and problem solving skills.

For the past few months Year 5 pupils representing 10 Primary schools have taken part in the Western Power Distribution Engineering Challenge which introduced them to the world of science and technology in a fun and educational way.

At the final of the Challenge which took place at the Rhondda Heritage Park recently, winning teams from each of the 10 schools competed against each other to build a structure.

Winners Harry Chatham and Caitlin Birmingham from - Litchard Primary won a trophy and a large K’nex building set worth £250 for the school, they also received a small K’nex set each.

All the children who took part in the Challenge received a goodie bag, certificate and visit from Santa.

Organised by Careers Wales EBP, the electricity business’s apprentices have mentored the children by helping them to develop, build and design models using K’nex pieces.

Careers Wales EBP, Project Officer, Michelle Common, explained:” Working in pairs, the pupils were set a task, which involved them in building a design solution to a specific problem.

They started the challenge by drawing their ideas first and then building their solution, adapting their initial designs as they learned what worked and what did not work.

The Challenge highlights the importance of working as part of a team and the need to communicate effectively.

Ian Lawrence, Distribution Manager, for Western Power Distribution (WPD), praised the skills and enthusiasm of all the children taking part. “It’s been a pleasure for us to support this initiative. The children are very excited and have come up with some really good ideas. The models they have built have been quite remarkable, my congratulations to winners.