The IET Faraday Challenge

“It was better than lessons and it was fun”
"It was a different experience”
"Today was fun. I learnt new things and got to participate in a fun challenge"
"I really liked the event and strongly agree for people to participate"
"The Faraday Challenger was a fun experience where I feel I have learned a lot"
"Loved the experience and the team work made me feel good"

It always starts off being a little confusing for our students when the IET Faraday Challenge comes to school, obviously due to our pastoral house system being comprised of 3 houses Grenfell, Ruskin and of course Faraday. However, before long the Mosslands lads begin to embrace the challenge ahead and get on with it.  IET Faraday Challenge Days give teams of students, in a competitive environment the opportunity to research, design and make prototype solutions to real-world engineering challenges under a cross-curricular umbrella.  It introduces them to engineering and hopefully inspires them to consider engineering as a career.  One of the aims of the workshop is to help them develop their practical and employability skills, including team working, problem-solving and creative thinking.

The Faraday Challenge was completed by 36 of our best year 8s and according to the evaluations above they all  had a fantastic day being creative and challenging themselves.  The developing of STEM soft skills such team working, budgeting, communication, and problem solving was an integral part of the learning experience but perhaps the favourite activity of the day was the building of model prototype.

This task involved designing an attachment for a drone to help complete with a specific task such as, delivering parcels to homes or aid to areas affected by natural disasters. The students had to work as a team, plan, design, budget for and construct a prototype of their attachment. All students worked incredibly well together ensuring all six teams had well thought out and constructed ideas.

The final part of the day was a Dragons Den style presentation where teams would explain their ideas, demonstrate their prototype and overall sell the concept and idea.  Overall, the day was very engaging for the students and had them thinking and working, that evolves from their commitment to extra-curricular activities such as the Faraday challenge.   MC