Alongside over a hundred pupils from schools across England, two teams of Clifton High School pupils progressed to the Flying Start's Grand Final last week.
Congratulations to our Year 9 team, 'La Playa', whose hard work paid off with an outstanding overall victory. Both teams had put a huge amount of work in over the previous weeks, attending many lunchtime sessions to prepare their gliders and posters. Their enthusiasm for the event was fantastic, and we are very proud of the way they represented Clifton High School at the event.
What is Flying Start?
The Flying Start event is split across three sections for pupils to participate in two STEM challenges, a museum tour, before embarking upon the much-anticipated Glider Fly-Off and poster presentation.
The first event involves building a model car with safety features built into the design, which can transport an egg down a ramp before colliding with a brick wall; all with minimal damage!
To score more points, Team 'La Playa' opted to add the maximum amount of additional weight, which paid off as they managed both tests with no damage to the egg!
Team 'Not Fast Just Furious' also opted for maximum weight, with just small damage on the first run, but, unfortunately, a smashed egg on the second.
Next up was the boat-building challenge, where pupils had to design and build a boat to carry as many marbles as possible without sinking. 'La Playa' achieved thirteen marbles and Not Fast Just Furious an excellent twenty-two!
Both teams did a fantastic job of presenting their work to visiting Aerospace engineers, who quizzed them on their design development and team roles. Elsa and Xinyue had worked hard on the beach-based design of their glider, and Verity and Fiona had ensured they had a comprehensive and accurate poster detailing their work.
During the all-important Glider Fly-Off event, Edward flew La Playa’s glider brilliantly, with the furthest of their three impressive flights being well over 20 metres. Unfortunately, Not Fast Just Furious’ glider did not fly as well as previously, so they were understandably disappointed, as they had done so well in the other tasks.
As the 3rd and 2nd places were revealed, tension grew amongst the Clifton High School ranks. Subsequently, La Playa members were delighted to hear their name announced as the overall winners! This is a brilliant achievement. Each member of the winning team won a voucher for a flight in a real glider. The team also won £500 to be spent on science equipment for the School!
We would like to thank Ross and all the other volunteers from Airbus who provided a fantastic opportunity for our pupils in this brilliant event.
