‘Wonderful ideas’ - Harton Primary pupils recognised for their innovative inventions
South Shields school pupils have been praised as part of the Primary Engineer Leaders Award.
The Primary Engineer Leaders Award has recognised pupils at Harton Primary School for their innovative invention ideas.
For the last seven years, pupils at the East Avenue school, in South Shields, have participated in the competition and this year, they were posed with the question: ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’
The competition saw the children engage with organisations such as Stemettes, Lego, NP Aerospace, Civil Aviation Authority and BWC Performance - with 28 Harton Primary pupils, from nursery to Year 5, receiving distinction status and were shortlisted for the final round of judging.
Three Harton Primary pupils were announced as North East winners for their age category:
- Four-year-old Ivy took first place for her invention of Lucia the Window Cleaner - a robot whose eyes could detect dirt and then use scrubbers to clean windows.
- Nine-year-old Eleanor won the award for her litter picking fish, which would help solve the problem of rubbish in our seas. The invention was praised by engineers for its camouflaged design so that it would not be eaten by predators.
- Ten-year-old Hallie secured the top spot for her Routine Remembering Machine - a device that would recall a daily routine and alarm the owner about what it is time to do, with Hallie stating that it would be particularly useful for people with dementia.
Year 2 pupil Olivia also received the Highly Commended Award for her invention, the robot nurse.
The seven-year-old’s invention would store any first aid kits and would be able to connect to an individual’s phone to determine their location.
‘Wonderful seeing the ideas’
Rachel Errington, class teacher and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) coordinator at Harton Primary, has praised the school’s pupil for their work and efforts during the competition.
She said: “Every year the children astound us with the creativity and ingenuity of their solutions. It’s been wonderful seeing the ideas from the younger children too.
“The Leaders Award is a brilliant opportunity for cross-curricular learning.
“The children engage with the engineering process, build skills like resilience and problem solving, have the chance to be creative and write persuasive, informative letters to the judges.”