Outwood Academy Freeston Team Into National Finals Of Big Ideas Competition

A team of Year 8 students from the Outwood Academy Freeston, mentored by employees from local manufacturing company Kongsberg Automotive in Normanton, have made it through to the national finals of a prestigious competition where they develop a solution to a sustainability-related problem that matters to them.

The Big Ideas programme, an award-winning science, technology, engineering, maths (STEM) and enterprise programme is open to students from schools across the UK. Partner companies provide mentors for the students who help them develop their ideas and business cases.

The three-man Team Aero-Secure was successful at its regional finals competition, landing them a place in the national finals with the opportunity to compete with teams from around the country. The final will be held in November at the Houses of Parliament.

The regional finalists were chosen from an initial shortlisting selection in March, and were tasked with building a portfolio of work that was marked by a panel of judges. 

After this a Virtual Regional Final event was held, consisting of a live Q and A session held online between the teams and the judges. This concluded with Team Aero-Secure from Outwood Academy Freeston being crowned regional champions.

The team’s campaign was to fund and build a prototype tree planting drone that runs on green energy.  

The team said: “Our vision is that if our world had more trees that were protected from farming or logging, not only would plant and animal populations increase, more CO2 would be absorbed from the atmosphere, helping to save the global climate crises.”

Announcing the winners on Twitter, Chief Executive of the Solutions for the Planet Jen Baughan said: “Aero-Secure created an exceptional marketing and fantastic social media campaign with an incredibly achievable idea with a clear plan of action and branded merchandise that is already available for sale.”

Sarah Pearce, who led the Outwood Academy Freeston team on this, said:

“It has been a fantastic experience for the students and me working alongside Solutions for the Planet and the amazing mentors from Kongsberg Automotive.  

“The mentors have inspired our students who have grown in confidence and developed their Big Ideas into very professional business plans. Kongsberg Automotive have continued to inspire all our students by supporting our careers events at the academy.”

Team Aero-Secure is made up of Outwood Academy Freeston students Lucas Clowe, Ben Huskins, and Ben Hodson. 

After winning their place, Lucas said that it had ‘been an unforgettable experience.’ While teammate Ben Huskins said the experience had been ‘amazing’ and that the team ‘would like to thank everyone who has helped us to get to this point.'

Ben Hodson added: “When I first joined the team, I never expected us to come this far. It has been an amazing experience to learn all the different skills and to work with so many amazing people including the Solutions for the Planet team, our fantastic mentors from Kongsberg Automotive and other people including our families.”

The students have been mentored by Julia Horrocks-Taylor, Sean Ratcliffe, Chris O’Shea and Warren Goodal from Kongsberg Automotive, who since 2007 has owned the Normanton Plant which delivers PTFE & Nylon formed hose to a wide range of customers across numerous sectors, decided to get involved as an opportunity to inspire the next generation of engineers.

As Mark Spence, Kongsberg Automotive Normanton’s Plant Manager says: “We want to support our local community whenever we can, and what better way than to build students’ interest and excitement in the STEM subjects.

“It’s invigorating to see the students develop their ideas and grow in confidence as the programme progresses. More than ever before, young people are thinking about sustainability and their futures and we are proud to support them in making positive changes.” 

Nearly 4000 students nationwide participated in the Big Ideas programme this year, with over 20,000 students having participated since its initiation in 2013.

Lisa Allott, Principal at Outwood Academy Freeston, added:

“At Outwood, we believe in putting students first, to help them achieve their potential and this goes beyond the classroom. 

“The students have had an amazing time being involved in this project and recognise that they have been exceptionally fortunate to work alongside the mentors from Kongsberg Automotive, learning life-long skills working with these professionals.  

“We are truly grateful for the experience and I am so proud of our students and the ideas they generated, which I believe are truly genius and I know they have grown as individuals as part of this process.  I would like to thank Kongsberg Automotive for everything they have done for this group of young people and for all their support with careers in our academy with all students."

Jen Baughan, CEO of Solutions for the Planet, the social enterprise that runs the award-winning programme explains: “The Big Ideas programme gives young people in high school opportunities to explore STEM subjects and sustainability through independent and project-based learning and nurtures their natural creativity. 

“Bringing business mentors, teachers and young people together provides a skills and knowledge sharing platform with the power to make a real difference.

“Through the Big Ideas programme students, teachers and mentors alike develop entrepreneurship, teamwork, and presentation skills, and broaden their knowledge of how STEM skills can be universally practically applied.”