STEM Students Launch Rockets

Aspiring engineers at Solihull Sixth Form College have been in competition to design and build water-propelled rockets and this year's winning team set a new College record.

Learners on the STEM Programme enrichment took part in the rocket competition before Christmas, with the winning team propelling their rocket 51.4 metres, further by far than any rocket previously created in this enrichment. Six teams of Year 12 students took part, spending the Autumn term designing, building and testing their prototypes. Even the teams that finished in the fifth and sixth positions exceeded the distances achieved on this project last year.

All teams presented their findings in January, in which they created PowerPoint presentations and delivered a summary of their projects and what they had learned to their peers. This helped to develop their presentation skills, having already worked on team-working and engineering skills in the Autumn term.

Rick Homer, the Physics teacher who delivers the STEM enrichment, commented:

"I'm really proud of all the students. They worked effectively in teams and made presentations of the exceptional work they had done. They also tried and tested different designs, learning as they went what materials and designs worked best, not to mention what angle to launch their rockets at to maximise the distance the rockets travelled. The resulting rocket flights, propelled with just water pressure, were phenomenal."

The STEM Programme is an enrichment that offers learners on A level or BTEC courses in Mathematics and Science the opportunity to get hands-on engineering experience. Meeting once a week, they complete various engineering projects during the course of the year and have the chance to submit their completed projects to The Big Bang competition. This enrichment can significantly boost students’ progression chances after leaving College and progressing onto university or higher apprenticeships.

20 January 2025