Talented Findochty kids engineer themselves national awards
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INGENIOUS engineering solutions are all in a day's work for a group of talented Findochty Primary pupils.
The P6/7 class have spent the last term working on a Leaders Award competition entitled ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’ which encourages youngsters to look at the world and find engineering solutions to common problems.
Each entry from schools up and down the country was graded by an engineer into Pass, Merit, Distinction or Distinction Shortlisted categories.
It may have been their first time entering the contest but the Findochty kids have been handed a fistful of awards in all three categories.
One of those delighted with he news was school headteacher Dawn Thompson.
She said: "These results are fantastic, they worked so hard on this.
"After a webinar with an engineer, where they learned about what engineers do and the roles they play, the class had to look at the world and chose a problem to engineer a fix for.
"As part of the competition, each pupil had to draw a design and explain how their solution would work and how it would impact the world.
"There were a lot of really ingenious designs. One sought to tackle loneliness in hospital during the Covid pandemic by building a device into medical equipment that would allow patients to keep in touch with their family.
"Another design looked at tackling plastic pollution in the oceans by creating a turtle-shaped machine which chewed up the plastic and recycled it into sheets or rods."
Merit awards: Alexa Calder; Vincent Birtwistle; Leonie Murray; Gemma Ferguson; Harry O’Hanlon; Olly Scott.
Distinction awards: Reuben Goodall; Marina Wallace; Kiera Bowie; Charlie Singer; Harrison McPherson; Ria Stewart; Jack Hunkin; Lili-Mae Doyle.
Distinction Shortlisted: Callum Main, Gracie-Mae Coutts, Grace Slater and Caleb Watt.
The pupils who have been graded Distinction Shortlisted will now have their entry judged by the competition judging panels, where they will have a chance to be crowned the winner for their year group in their region.
Mrs Thompson said: "We all await the results with baited breath."
New of the awards crowned a very successful week for the school, coming on the same day as Caleb Watt was unveiled as the national winner of the P6 Pupil Reading Journey category in the First Minister's Reading Challenge 2020-21.
Mrs Thompson added: "It's been a very successful year for the school, and a very strange one, too!"
