The Mayor of Wakefield, Cllr. Darren Byford, the Mayor of Normanton Cllr. Alison Bones and her consort Malcolm Bones, the Mayor of Featherstone, Cllr. Dwain Longley and Carol Appleyard the Mayor of Normanton last year, were in attendance, along with Rotary District Governor Elect Anne Sutcliffe and Daniel Hiles with Alisha Ali from the company SEW-Eurodrive Ltd, who sponsored the event.
Daniel addressed the students after the formal presentations had been completed.
This “Joint 10” event was organised by the Rotary Club of Normanton led by our president Stephen Woodcock. The principal organisers of the event were Past President David Piggin and Rotarian Stephen Goodhead from the Rotary club of Normanton. Mrs. Sue Housley assisted us by leading the team of judges which included Richard Galliford MBE and Derek Housley from the Rotary Club of Stainborough. Most of the judges had prior experience of the tasks involved, having undertaken a trial test run one week prior to the actual event.
Bob Guard from the Rotary club of Wakefield Chantry also assisted the Normanton members.
The Mayor of Normanton, Cllr. Allison Bones presented the winning teams in each category with the winner’s trophies and our president, Stephen Woodcock presented all the students with their Rotary certificates of participation and the £100 cheques made out in favour of their respective schools.
The certificates were printed on the day by former Osgoldcross and Elmet Rotarian Mark Lovett.
Each student will receive, in due course, a Crest Award, issued by the British Science Association.
The task this year was to construct a vehicle to meet a specified requirement, replicating the removal of debris in a tunnel. There were three task categories, Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced. The complexity of the task varied for each category. Each team is given an appropriate pack of materials, the students providing their own hand and power tools. The teams are judged on many aspects. They are encouraged to thoroughly discuss the means by which they can achieve the required objective and to document their approach to the task, produce sketches to illustrate important aspects of the construction and the mechanisms which they intend to adopt, as well as the actual construction required to meet the task requirements.
The winners in the three categories were as follows:- Foundation – St. Wilfrid’s Catholic High School Featherstone Team 1. The runners-up were Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Team 1. Intermediate – Trinity Academy Thorne. The runners-up were Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Team 2. Advanced – Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Team 2. The runners-up were St. Wilfrid’s Catholic High School Team 2.
