Marden High School

Last week forty Year 8 students visited the Nissan factory in Sunderland, an event held in conjunction with the government’s “See Inside Manufacturing” programme. The initiative hopes to inspire young people to consider careers in advanced manufacturing and engineering, and to challenge negative perceptions about the UK’s manufacturing industry.

During the visit to the plant, the pupils heard how engineers are adapting to an ever-changing world; engineers who studied traditional technologies such as petrol-powered vehicles are now learning about electric vehicle technology. Students learnt about the 100% electric Nissan LEAF, took part in a talk with a series of engineering related competitions and games before taking in a walk of the production line will to see their current cars being built.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SISXFWmu1sM

Last year some Year 9 students took part in a STEM event at Newcastle University, and the academics were so impressed that the students, now in Year 10, were invited back to give a talk on their research into the effect of commonly found acids in food and tooth enamel. This was part of the Leading Edge project run by Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council.

Over the last 6 weeks Year 7 classes have been taking part in an exciting Robotics event, spending the whole day in the City Learning Centre building programs and competing to see who can come up with the most accurate and sophisticated program to make remote control robots perform certain tasks. Here are some photos of the event.