King Charles I School welcomed students from across The ContinU Trust of Wyre Forest and Hagley for a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) day. Students put their creative thinking, design and engineering skills to the test in a day-long challenge delivered by educational charity The Smallpeice Trust.

Fifty students, aged 13 and 14, worked on a project called The Propelled Glider Challenge, which asked them firstly to design and construct a propelled aeroplane and then to see which of their designs could fly the furthest.

Education Officer for The Smallpeice Trust, Megan Hubbard said, “It is wonderful to see just how much students get from taking part in a STEM Day as they develop their lateral thinking and problem-solving skills. We hope these students will now be inspired to consider futures in engineering.”

Mark Field, from King Charles I School, said, “We were delighted to take part and welcome partner schools from ContinU. It has encouraged our pupils to link the classroom elements of science, design and technology to what happens in engineering in the real world. By taking part, many of our students say they have been inspired to push themselves harder in STEM subjects to achieve their future goals.”

The ContinU partners who joined the educational fun came from King Charles 1 School, Wolverley C of E Secondary School, The Bewdley School, Haybridge High School and Baxter College.

ContinU Trust partner high schools are partnered with Birmingham University in a School Science Partnership funded by The Ogden Trust, a national foundation aimed at supporting the teaching and learning of physics.

The STEM Day was run by the independent educational charity, The Smallpeice Trust, as part of an ongoing programme of courses designed to help young people learn and develop skills in engineering, design, technology and manufacturing. For further information visit www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk, or telephone The Smallpeice Trust on 01926 333200.