Three Year Six pupils who demonstrated outstanding ability in science and maths worked on their own project on wind turbines, something they are interested in.

They enjoyed a talk by Adrian Harrison, who visits schools as part of the ACE (Awareness of Careers in Engineering) project. This was launched by the Engineering and Manufacturing Sector and the then Department of Trade and Industry in February 2008 to increase the number of local people with the skills in this sector.

Working in class as well as during their lunchtimes, boys designed their own turbines, a project that involved everything from nature (how leaves are formed) to maths and science (angles, rotation and mass). They recreated their designs using craft materials.

Through Mr Harrison’s contacts, apprentices at Ronaldsway Aircraft Company then turned two of the designs into proper prototypes and these were presented to the boys during a visit to the factory in Ballasalla.

The boys will now continue work on their project extracting and analysing the data from the machines then suggesting adjustments to their designs. The prototypes will stay in school when the boys leave, enabling the project to be developed by other pupils in future years.

Left to right: Back row – RAC apprentices David Kelly, Frank Stennet and Paul Sales; front row – Thomas Young, Owen Williams and Zachary Elliott, all 11.