Shropshire pupils rocket to the top with science-themed week
It was up, up and away at a primary school near Newport as pupils made paper planes and rockets.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, children and teachers at Tibberton CE Primary School hosted a science and engineering week, looking at different aspects of space and travel.
As part of the activities, key stage one pupils were challenged to design and make a free-standing rocket and key stage two pupils were invited to design and make a paper aeroplane.
The activities culminated in an evening of height and flight when children, parents and teachers gathered at school to display and test their inventions.
Anton Gunter, managing director of Telford-based Global Freight Services, was invited along to the event to be an independent judge of the aeroplane contest.
He said: “We had a great evening of fun testing out the children’s aeroplane designs and examining a fabulous selection of rockets which the younger children had made.
“I was blown away by how creative the children had been – some of the rockets were over 7ft tall. They clearly spent a lot of time on the challenges and put in a great deal of effort.
“The aeroplanes were equally as inventive, with children using their imaginations and skills to come up with some exceptional designs. The challenges have certainly been a great way to engage children in different aspects of space, travel and flight and it’s been a pleasure to be involved.”
Helen Osterfield, headteacher at Tibberton CE, said: “It’s been fantastic to see the pupils so excited and engaged in science and engineering and having Anton along as our guest judge made it all the more exciting.
“He spoke to the children about the freight industry during a recent careers event at the school so it was super to have him back as our independent adjudicator for the challenges, particularly as there is a link to air travel.
“He was so enthusiastic with the children and the challenge — he even made and flew his own paper plane.”
