Knutsford High School’s Team 1’s Jeta Stadium won the North West Create Sport final on 19 April.
Create Sport is a national competition designed to promote an understanding of the importance of civil engineering within our society. Create Sport has been developed in partnership with Arup and the Engineering Development Trust (EDT), challenging 12 to 13 year olds across the UK to plan, design and construct a model for a new sports venue in their region.
Five teams from four schools presented their designs to a judging panel at the Institution of Civil Engineers North West in Manchester on 19 May.
The twelve and thirteen year-olds had worked with ICE NW volunteers over several months to plan and design models of sports stadia from a futuristic velodrome to an environmentally friendly ‘sports island’. The teams were challenged to think about the project from an engineering perspective, taking into account real technical, infrastructure and sustainability constraints and concerns such as transport links, flooding, drainage and water use, energy use and generation, environmental biodiversity, communities planning and safety aspects.
The judges said, “There was so little to choose between the finalists, both in terms of the imagination shown in each design, and the technical consideration which went into their construction planning. Just a few points separated them all in the judging and this demonstrated the hard work and commitment each team displayed in assembling and delivering their presentations.”
The finalists:
- Withington Girls’ School, Fallowfield, Manchester;
- Penketh High School, Warrington;
- Royton & Crompton School, Oldham;
- Knutsford High School- two teams.
The winning Knutsford team (pictured left) were judged to be in the top ten entries across the UK, but narrowly missed out on going to the national final.
The team from Our Lady Queen of Peace, Skelmersdale were unable to attend the final. Their design will be assessed by the Institution of Civil Engineers North West at a later date.
Royton & Crompton School, Oldham
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Penketh High School, Warrington
Withington Girls’ School, Fallowfield, Manchester