Two teams of East renfrewshire schoolchildren are heading for the national final of the annual Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) 4 x 4 in Schools STEM competition next month.
The next round of the competition will be hosted on 6th & 7th March at the British Motor Heritage Museum in Oxfordshire, where students will be asked to design, analyse, make, test and race a scaled remote control 4-wheel drive vehicle that can negotiate a specially design off-road course complete with hills, tunnels, rock crawls and water dips.
Sponsorship from Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, who is building a range of new homes at Westfield Gardens, Maidenhill – its latest development in East Renfrewshire, along with Brightwork, the leading Glasgow and Edinburgh based recruitment business which has helped fund the project over the last five years, are providing support for two teams of Woodfarm High School whizz-kids to continue their journey to the national final of the competition.
Photo: Brightwork Woodfarm High School (left to right: Findlay, Carly, Shan Saba, Samantha and Kian)
The teams use computer coding to programme scaled remote-controlled four-wheel-drive vehicles they designed and built for the competition, all in their lunch hours and after school. As part of their competition entry, teams also have to produce a design portfolio, a ‘pit display’, and give a verbal presentation to a panel of judges and impress them in an engineering interview.
Woodfarm’s two participants, ‘Team Docs’ and ‘The Doclettes’, will join around 20 teams of secondary school pupils from across the UK for two days of competition and extended challenges.
Both Woodfarm High School teams secured their positions in the final following mixed fortunes at the Scottish regional final held in Livingston in December, where ‘Team Docs’ were crowned Scottish champions for the third year, and ‘The Doclettes’ secured enough points to qualify for their place alongside them.
Dr Simon Hadfield, Principal Teacher of Science at Woodfarm High School, said: “We are incredibly proud to have two teams taking part in the national final of the JLR 4 X 4 Challenge, and I’m very proud of every one of our students for getting this far. We’ve had several years of success with Team Docs in this competition, including taking part in the World Finals in Abu Dhabi in 2017. This year we are delighted that Team Docs was crowned overall Scottish champions, and we are equally proud of our younger Doclettes team and all they’ve achieved in their first year of competition and scoring well enough to make it through to the finals.
“These pupils are a credit to the school, to Scotland’s standing in the world, and to the future of STEM education in the UK.”
Highlighting the importance of STEM subjects and their contribution to the housebuilding industry is an area of focus for Taylor Wimpey. Kirsty McGill, Head of Sales for Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, explains: “When you consider the importance of the STEM subjects across a number of areas of our business, it’s crucial that we play our role in inspiring children to enjoy these subjects in order to future proof our industry.
“Sponsoring ‘Team Docs’ and promoting their involvement in such a prestigious competition, helps us to bring STEM to life, and hopefully we can encourage more children to have fun with these subjects so they become part of their DNA.”
Shan Saba, Director at Brightwork, sponsor of ‘The Doclettes’, said: “When we first offered to sponsor a Woodfarm High School team five years ago, we wanted to encourage the uptake of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in schools and that remains true today. Seeing these subjects in a practical, fun and empowering environment is helping to remind students of their relevance and importance to our everyday lives, and this competition certainly creates a buzz around STEM.”