The Stephen Perse School wins Rotary Tech Tournament

The Rotary Tech Tournament took place at Cambridge Masonic Hall, featuring six teams of four students – with two teams each from The Leys, The Stephen Perse School and The Perse.

The annual event asks pupils to compete to solve a problem and construct a solution that “requires the use of imagination, creativity and lateral thinking”.

John Barrett, youth services lead for the organiser, the Rotary Club of Cambridge, said: “They were challenged to build a launching device to send a lightweight capsule into the air, using a limited selection of materials.

“It is always good to see their inventiveness.

“But above all this is a team competition in which they have to learn to work together to achieve success.”

Fellow Rotarian Phillip James, director of Coulson Building Group, added: “The project was designed to encourage young people to see design and technology as attractive and challenging.

“The working models were innovative and impressive with most achieving the objectives for height and accuracy of launch.

“However, the clear winner was Team 1 from The Stephen Perse School, comprising Emily Ellis, Iva Lazarova, Mikhail Larin- Skorobogatov and Sam Francis.

“Other awards were given for planning and teamwork, design development and innovation, portfolio design and presentation and overcoming difficulties.”

One student noted: “We learnt how to solve problems in a team environment,” noted one of the students.

A teacher described it as “a perfect team activity.”

Rotary Club Cambridge secretary Rosemary Turner added: “It was amazing to see the look on the faces of the young participants when their ‘ ball’ shot up in the air!”