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County Durham school wins special award in national design competition

Pupils from a North East school have won a special award in the national finals of an environmental competition.

Left to right: Jenson, Finlay, Reece, and Samuel receive the award from Jen Baughan, CEO and Co-founder of Solutions for the Planet (Image: Parkside Academy)
Left to right: Jenson, Finlay, Reece, and Samuel receive the award from Jen Baughan, CEO and Co-founder of Solutions for the Planet (Image: Parkside Academy)

The team of four Year 8 boys from Parkside Academy, Willington, reached the national finals of the Solutions For The Planet’s ‘Big Ideas’ competition after winning the regional finals at Sunderland University.


The competition challenges youngsters to design sustainable solutions to support the planet, and Jenson Yardley, Finlay Weir, Reece Ross-Hawkins, and Samuel Shotton produced a concept for an automated, solar-powered tractor.


They travelled to the Science Museum, in London, for the national final and won The Barker Award for their presentation skills, professionalism, and confidence.


It was the culmination of a project in which 60 students from Parkside Academy – part of the Advance Learning Partnership – started working on the Big Ideas programme last December.




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