F1 in Schools STEM Challenge

A couple of weeks ago, myself ( Lisa Hunt ), William Goldsmith, and Stuart B visited SGS Berkeley Green UTC representing Origin8tive as one of their 'Employer Partners' for their first whole school project day of the academic year 2023/24.

The day was based around the 'F1 in Schools STEM Challenge' where small groups of students had to each design an F1 car, team branding, logo, uniform, budget, and website/app as well as answering an ethical conundrum around the environmental impact of Formula One as a sport.

We didn't really know what to expect from our first visit to Berkeley Green UTC but came away extremely impressed by the students and the facilities available to them - if only there had been something like it during our school years!

It was fascinating to observe the students settle into their project groups and start cracking on with the tasks involved, particularly given that, for some of them, it was only their second day ever attending Berkeley Green UTC and they didn't know each other. It was amazing to see how much each of the groups achieved in just a morning's work, and the presentations given by our sponsored form group 10-O8 were remarkably good!

Berkeley Green's focus on STEM vocations and producing highly employable young people was very apparent, and Origin8tive are very excited by the future opportunities to get involved in supporting this.

My colleague William Goldsmith was also very impressed by the school and their students:

“What did I expect from going back to school for the first time since I left in 2015? To be honest not much as it’s only been 8 years, so I was very surprised to see such a positive change in approach to teaching and how the young adults of Berkley Green UTC are prepared for life after school.

The engagement with the students was such a positive experience with their willingness to take a complicated challenge on headfirst with people they have only just met. I particularly enjoyed helping and providing feedback as and when asked and even having a joke with some of the students. My main outtakes from the day are students are much more concerned with what they want to do, and where they are going to go after year 11 or 13 and they are so keen to meet and interact with people in industry, especially from the tech world.”

#stemeducation #stemlearning #f1challenge #employerpartner