18/10/10 - Thomas Vale Challenge Students

Paul Dockerill, Director at Thomas Vale construction comments: “We are proud to be working with Kenilworth and Warwickshire to provide invaluable learning experiences like this. These activities will help the students to recognize the personal qualities, attributes and skills needed to be successful. They will hopefully understand more about themselves and how they interact as part of a team which will highlight their various strengths and weaknesses.”

The challenges were introduced to the students by Warwickshire Education Business Partnership with the aim of introducing students to the careers and opportunities available in the world of STEM.

Hayden Abbott, Head teacher at Kenilworth School said: “The students were in mixed gender groups through Years 7 to 11 and it was pleasing to see the way they worked as a team and learned from each other. I received many comments afterwards from them saying how much they had enjoyed the morning; working with the apprentices from Thomas Vale and how much they had learned.

It was a very successful morning and I am extremely proud of all the students who took part.”

One of the tasks involved the students creating a model size geodesic dome structure which could be used as a frame to propagate seedlings such as those used at the Eden Project. The model had to meet accurate specifications such as the height, weight and strength. Students were also required to create an attractive design whilst considering cost effectiveness to manufacture.

A geodesic dome is a structure in which, as far as possible, every part of the structure is the same length. This design feature makes construction easier and leads to lower costs.