This Autumn Term we have had 2 great successes in our STEM activities. Firstly, Year 9 and Year 10 students took part in an international bridge building workshop with schools from the UK, and the USA.

The afternoon was started off by Mr David White, the Apprentice Lead at Gatwick Airport where he is in charge of training for the young people at Gatwick who have secured roles; and trains them over four years to be their future engineers.

Following on from this, the students were given a presentation in which they were asked to consider the importance of bridges, including ideas about the use of simple bridges transforming people’s lives throughout the developing world.

The presentation also considered aspects of engineering relating to the different types of bridge, materials used in construction, the science behind the choice of materials and design considerations. After this, students were given time to design, build, test and improve bridges of their own.

Following on from the construction and testing session there was a discussion opportunity with apprentice engineers from Gatwick. There was also an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of the bridge to hold a load. All Hazelwick’s bridges performed well, holding several kilograms of masses.