Earlier this year, pupils of Walford Primary School entered the South West England Primary Engineer Leaders Award. This remarkable STEM award, managed in partnership with the University of the West of England and DE&S, asked primary and secondary school pupils a question: “If you were an engineer, what would you do?”

Louise George, Headteacher, said: “Pupils at Walford love a challenge and all participated with great enthusiasm to find a solution for a variety of engineering dilemmas. We were overwhelmed with the amount of creativity generated and delighted to learn that so many of our pupils had been shortlisted for this exciting award.”

In Year 3, Callum and Lily were shortlisted with a Distinction and Jack was Highly Commended by judges. In Year 4, Archie, Dominic and Gwenna were shortlisted with a Distinction and Lewis was Highly Commended by judges. In Year 5, Ben, Evie, Laszlo and Lexie were shortlisted with a Distinction and in Year 6, Keira was also shortlisted with a Distinction, whilst Hazel, Leo and Lucy were Highly Commended by judges.

Out of an incredible 37,000 entries, pupils’ work was graded with Pass, Merit or Distinction. From the distinction entries, some were shortlisted to go on to a further round of judging where those which particularly caught the judges’ eye, were awarded Judges’ Highly Commended. The overall winners were then selected from the Judges’ Highly Commended nominations.

Pupils of Walford Primary School did extremely well and although many who received a Distinction or Judges’ Highly Commended missed out on winning a trophy this year, their designs were selected for display, putting Walford in the top percentile, an astonishing feat. On Saturday, June 30th, family, friends and members of the public were invited to attend a Public Exhibition at the University of the West of England in order to view the shortlisted competition entries.

Christopher Dempster, Ministry of Defence Engineer, said: “Very well done to all! Walford Primary School’s engineering submissions are some of the very best I have seen so far. I especially enjoyed that they all had some form of practical application in day-to-day lives in the real world.

“It is absolutely amazing to see this level of engineering ability at such a young age! I feel that they will all make great engineers and I may even get to work with them in the future. Keep up the good work!”

Last Friday, Lucy, supported by her family and school staff, thoroughly enjoyed an evening of celebration at the Awards Ceremony and Private Exhibition. Dr Susan Scurlock, Founder and Chief Executive Primary Engineer Programmes, presented Lucy with an impressive trophy and certificate.

Paul Deneen OBE JP DL, Chair of the Board of Governors at Walford Primary School said: “I would like to extend my congratulations to Lucy for her award winning engineering design, ‘Perfect Measure’, and to her family for their continued support, both of Lucy and the work of the school. Huge thanks also to Louise George, Headteacher, and the incredible staff team who work extremely hard to stimulate inventive thinking and to encourage creativity through exciting projects such as the Primary Leaders Engineering Award.”