Sprowston Junior at the F1 in Schools National Finals at the Magna Science Adventure Centre (Thursday 12th March 2024)
Four teams of children from Year 5 (Bolt Action, Cyber Falcons, Dream Big and Electric Speed) took part in the F1 in Schools Regional Finals at Sprowston Community Academy in February knowing that there were places at the National Finals up for grabs. F1 in Schools is a STEM and Design & Technology competition, engaging students aged 9-11 through a truly cross-curricular activity. Teams aim to compete at a Primary Class Regional Final, with the hope of progressing on to a National Final.
After a day of hotly contested Regionals competition two teams from Sprowston Junior were selected to go through to the National Finals. Cyber Falcons (Liv, Eliza, Horace and Kacper) won the Regional Finals and Bolt Action (Amber, Gioia, Xheison and Sonny) finished in third place.
So, on Tuesday 12th March, children from Sprowston Junior School travelled to the Magna Science Adventure Centre, Rotherham for the F1 in Schools National Finals. While only two teams had qualified for the finals, members from the other two teams were keen to travel to support their friends, so all four teams headed up to Rotherham.
The early departure time from school (5am!) didn’t dampen any of the enthusiasm and before they knew it, they had arrived at the Magna Science Adventure Centre. After registering and setting up their pit displays the children got the chance to explore. Highlights included the long race track, the Williams F1 racing car and of course talking to all the other competitors.
The day was split in to four different categories: talking to the judges about their pit display (a display of all the work they have been doing), being asked questions about their design portfolio (the portfolio outlined the rationale behind their design – including testing and car design), giving a verbal presentation (introducing the team and talking about their experiences of the F1 in Schools project) and of course racing their cars. The children got the chance to share all the hard work they have been putting into the project since they started in January. Here’s what they thought of the experience:
“I really enjoyed looking at the other team pit displays.” Teddy
“I loved building the car and creating the pit display” Bertie
“I thought F1 in Schools was a little thing, but it turned in to whole day out to Rotherham where there were teams from across the UK and even Hong Kong!” Ethan
“I really enjoyed working as a team and seeing the smiles on the teams’ faces.” Millie
“I really loved F1 in Schools. I liked to when we performed in front of the judges, it was a really enjoyable experience.” Liv
“Being interviewed live on TV was very cool and I really enjoyed racing our car.” Sonny
“My favourite part of the day was our presentation.” Amber
“I liked F1 because we worked really hard together as a team.” Xheison
“F1 was a really fun experience. We learnt lots of interesting facts going to regionals and nationals.” Gioia
If that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, all the children even got the chance to visit the Magna Science Adventure Centre and find out more about the wonders of Science and Technology in their four pavilions (Air, Earth, Fire and Water). It was amazing!
Everyone has really enjoyed being part of the competition and had an incredible time at the National Finals. We’re already making plans for next year!
Thanks to Mrs Bryant, Nova Racing and Real Velocidad from Sprowston Community Academy for all their help with preparations for the Regional and National finals; and to Tom, Aimee and everyone from F1 in Schools for all their hard work in organising the competition.
A special thank you to all the parents/carers who got up extra early to get their children to school for a 5am departure.
An extra special mention to Mr Dera (aka Kacper's dad) and his company Kwik Pix for providing all the children from Bolt Action and Cyber Falcons with T-Shirts, caps and bags for the day. They looked great in their new merch!
