The future of Fylde coast is bright after being left in the hands of local schools

Each school had been working hard on their The Future of Our Fylde Coast projects for the last few months as part of their ENTHUSE Partnerships, to solve a problem which will face residents of the Fylde Coast in the future. The issues studied were coast flooding, transport around the Fylde coast and ‘Powering the Fylde Coast’. Pupils from the schools worked in teams to plan a presentation around their solution which was judged by STEM Ambassadors from companies such as Panthera, NanoSUN and British Aerospace.

At an event held on Friday at Blackpool Football Club 140 pupils aged from six to 14 took part in two STEM Challenges; Making Spaghetti Towers and Building Slower Coasters as well as watching a Science Show presented by Professor Pumpernickel. The event was great fun for all and, although there were overall winners with Roylesbrook taking the top prize, a fantastic day was had by all. Over 100 proud parents arrived in the afternoon and had the opportunity to see their children’s amazing projects and share in the excitement of the day.

The event was funded through the enthuse partnerships by STEM Learning and supported by Lancashire and Cumbria Science Learning Partnership, an education charity funded by the Department for Education to engage and inspire our next generation of STEM employees.

Louise Hall of Armfield Academy and the Fylde Coast Academy Trust said: "As a school we are very grateful to STEM learning for all the enrichment and opportunities which they have provided us. To raise the profile of STEM based subjects not just in our school but across the Fylde Coast has been fantastic. Hearing students discuss with confidence how their project will help the town, demonstrated the time and understanding which had gone into their projects.

"Having the opportunity to work with other schools within and outside our trust, a vision to pull together so many different schools and all this becoming reality has been a highlight of the last 12 months. We look forward to working with partner schools moving forward and hope to hold a similar event in the near future.”