In the summer term of 2015, Redmoor Academy was delighted to be awarded a £10k Engineering Education Grant by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. This was to support the school’s efforts in raising awareness of engineering opportunities and promoting engineering as a career across three key stages of education. Since then, the school has used the money to organise various initiatives including Girls in Engineering Day, a summer school introduction to engineering, primary engineering competitions, the third Redmoor Academy Big Bang and the latest venture: Rockets at Redmoor.
This was a two-day extravaganza, working alongside the UK’s only rocket-building enterprise, Starchaser Industries, who are based in Salford, Manchester.
After many deliberations about where we could site a 9-metre rocket in the school car park, students and staff alike were awestruck as they walked down the drive on Thursday 28th January – cameras were out and selfies were snapped!
All students at the Hinckley school had been invited to choose one of several ‘rocket’ sessions on offer. Local primary schools were also invited to attend, which fitted in well with their space week initiatives. Students from Dorothy Goodman also took part in the event.
With the excitement around Tim Peake’s mission to the International Space Station, many students were keen to find out more about space tourism and astronaut opportunities. One of the sessions talked students through the rigours of astronaut training, and invited them to try their hand at paper-clip-linking with oversized gloves, to get an idea of how tricky it is to work in a space suit! Other sessions gave students a brief insight into engineering principles behind rocket design and saw students launching their paper rockets on the playing field. On the Thursday evening, there was a community event with over 200 parents, students and friends attending a fantastic demonstration of rocket design and rocket fuel. The Friday event saw a group of 80 students taking part in a five-hour rocket technology event, where they designed, built and launched their rockets using real rocket fuel. The 40mph gusts almost put a stop to their efforts, but with some quick-thinking and re-positioning of the launch site, the students were able to watch their rockets take-off and return to the ground after the parachutes had deployed.
However, the event was not only for budding engineers. Another group of students interested in journalism were given the opportunity to be roving reporters for the two days and were tasked with interviewing the presenters and the students, and creating an overview of the two-day event.
To see Melanie’s leaflet which is a fantastic report of the Friday event, please click here. Emily, Isobelle and Emily’s work will be posted here soon.
Whilst it was clear that students were having a great time, these sessions were not just about enjoyment. The feedback received has been overwhelmingly positive, from both adults and students, with the majority of students making reference to how much they had learnt and how inspired they had been about future careers. One of the major ideas explored was the feasibility of being the first person to walk in Mars, becoming perhaps the most famous person in the history of space exploration…wouldn’t it be amazing to think that that person could currently be a student at Redmoor Academy!
Rockets at Redmoor Gallery:
