Earlier this month, we took a group of Year 8 students to compete in one of many Faraday Challenge days, hosted by Croydon High School.

The Faraday Challenge was developed by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Europe’s largest professional organisation in the field. Its aim is to introduce and promote the wonders of science, technology and engineering. The Faraday Challenge day offers students an opportunity to work in groups of six to design, create and promote the best solution to a given challenge.  All challenges are genuine, real-life engineering problems. Our two teams of six had to design an item that either helped someone with a disability, helped someone in sport or an educational children’s toy. Any of these designs needed to include a circuit and battery operation.

Our two teams got working quickly in planning and outlining their idea then started to build their prototype. Both ideas were excellent and included the use of circuits to help simulate the more complex elements of their props.

Team 1 created a stick for blind people, it would beep and make a noise when it sensed something nearby. The thought behind their idea was thata blind person would use the stick to give extra feedback to the user when they are walking about. They designed the stick to be compact to stop it being a burden carrying it about. The team also fitted light sensors onto the stick, these would then set off a buzzer when obstructed by an object, suggesting something is in the way. The buzzer would then stop when the obstruction was out of the way. They attached a solar panel to the stick to meet the green requirements of the build. The solar panel would charge the batteries in the stick to allow it to last longer and not create so much battery waste. When presenting – the group took it in turns talking about their product. The team explained the difficulties in the build and what they might change next time they design a similar product.

Team 5 created a children's toy. Their idea came from a toy that they used as children where you have some different shapes and had to fit them into the correct holes. They had some struggles getting the circuit inside their box without it breaking and then realising that the wrong light turned off when blocking the hole with the shape. They persevered and managed to fix the project ready for the presentation. Their presentation was very strong and well thought out. They handled the questions astutely and clearly outlined the role each person had in the group and the intricate design of their circuit.

The scoring is based on a number of different elements. The winning team was Team 5 from Cheam High School, beating Croydon High School and Coloma Convent School. We are now waiting for all of the challenges to take place to see if we are moving onto the final part in the challenge. This was an outstanding effort and both teams should be immensely proud of their achievement.

Our students were excellent ambassadors for the school and did us proud.