The Rotary Club of Wolverhampton went to Uplands Junior School in Finchfield to hold a second Junior Technology Tournament at the invitation of teacher Fiona Gilbert after her colleague Carolyn Bryan who had seen, and been enthused by, the Rotary Junior Technology Tournament when it was demonstrated at a ‘Big Bang’ fair at the NEC., which is the UK’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths for young people. 

The tournaments are a challenging and enjoyable way for young people to enrich their STEM (Science, Technology and Engineering) learning. They are designed for 8 -11 year olds and in partnership with The Rochester Bridge Trust Rotary provide an interesting and fun experience that tests the knowledge, innovation, teamworking and problem solving skills of the participants. The tournaments were recently granted a CREST (Creativity in Science and Technology) award by the British Science Association.

The youngsters, work in teams of 4 and solve an interactive technology based task and are required to design, model and build a solution with materials such as paper, card, clothes pegs, string and elastic rubber bands, using a premade wooden base, all supplied by Rotary free of charge. 

The children were eagerly awaiting the day and created some amusing names for their teams, such as ‘Electric Donkeys,’ ‘Master Builders,’ and ‘Bantock Bulldogs!’

The winning team- the self styled ‘Master Builders’ comprised Bohdi, Laura. Charlie and Simran, seen here with President Paul Lockley.

Team leader Rotarian Richard Green was accompanied by several Rotarians from the club. Richard, who has retired from a career in construction says ‘it’s very rewarding to see all of the boys and girls having such fun and being so involved in a very friendly and competitive way.’