Northfield School and Sports College, Stockton, took top spot at the final of the Tees Valley Wonder Challenge.
Both the school and its winning team was awarded £500. Egglescliffe School and Castle View Enterprise Academy took second and third place.
Held at Hartlepool College, the finalists included teams from Huntcliff School, Saltburn, Longfield Academy, Darlington, King James Academy, Durham and Our Lady & St Bede Catholic Academy, Stockton.
Established nearly 20 years ago, the North East Schools Wonder Challenge has been revamped over the years, in 2023, Northern Counties Builders Federation (NCBF) and Constructing Excellence North East (CENE), relaunched the challenge, which was previously led by the Construction Industry Training Board, Construction Industry Council and CENE.
The challenge was to design a sustainable transport system in three stages. The first, set up a company, appoint a team and identify a site to develop. The second, the generation of a company proposal. The third, a presentation to the judges. Each school was assigned a mentor, with Andy Ray, group operations director at Applebridge Family, supporting the winning school.
At the final, the judges included Catriona Lingwood, Constructing Excellence North East, John Cartwright, Hartlepool College and Debbie Watson, Caddick Construction.
Judges involved throughout the process included Hollie Statham, Willmott Dixon, Ashleigh Coombes, Wates Group, Angela Carney, Carney Consultancy, Neil Ramsey, Northern Counties Builders Federation, Chris Morris, Compass Developments and John Nielsen, CK21.
John Cartwright, head of business growth and skills, Hartlepool College, said: “Hartlepool College of Further Education was honoured to host the Teesside final of the Wonder Challenge, celebrating creativity, teamwork and innovation among our region’s young talent. A huge well done to the winning team from Northfield School and Sports College for their outstanding effort and impressive work throughout the competition. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the mentors, teachers and stakeholders whose support made the event possible. Infrastructure work is huge and we need a new talent pipeline to move these projects forward. The future of the construction sector is bright with this standard of high work and dedication.”
Chery Peskett, STEM co-ordinator, Northfield School and Sports College, said: I’m so proud of our pupils and the incredible effort they put into the Wonder Challenge. They approached every task with enthusiasm and really enjoyed the chance to work with industry experts. Their ideas for a sustainable transport system were creative, well thought out, and clearly reflected the depth of research they’d done. It was fantastic to see how passionate and engaged they were throughout – a real credit to themselves and the school.”
The built environment sector presented teachers with the opportunity to have a ready-made project for students, assisting them in STEM subjects but also geography, design and English.
The scheme highlighted the diverse opportunities within the built environment, involving team work, design, presentation skills and report production.
A show of force from organisations within the built environment supported and sponsored the initiative. They included, Northern Counties Builders Federation, Constructing Excellence North East, Carney Consultancy, AtkinsRealis, Identity Consult, Architects Group, believe housing, Esh Construction, K2 Construction Management, McGhee Management, Keltbray Infrastructure, Compass Developments, Port of Tyne, Kier, Tilbury Douglas, Mott MacDonald Bentley, Applebridge Family, Seymour Civil Engineering, Sir Robert McAlpine, Clyde & Co.