Three teams from Year 10 and 11 entered  the Big Bang competition finals at the NEC.Two Go4set groups entered “The Eco Hotel” and “The Eco Factory”, and the silver CREST group entered their project “Water you mean I’m Dehydrated?”

We left after school on Tuesday to attend a welcome event at the NEC and were then given time to set up our projects at our stands and informed of our judging times for the following day. After arriving at school for 7:30am the next day, we set off on the mini bus, accompanied by Dr Fletcher and Miss Maund and once we arrived we had to practise our presentations before judging. Unfortunately, the two Go4set groups were given the earliest judging slots so had to prepare quickly. The judging included presenting a speech to a set of judges about our project and then we were asked questions based on our presentations. We were then moderated later in the day by a different set of judges.

Once all judging was over, we were free to explore the Big Bang floor (although we had to try not to get lost in all the other stands and projects!) We felt that some of the best places to visit were the RAF & Army stands and the STEM careers stand. However, the overall favourite was GCHQ which had some very fun games which kept us all busy during our time at the Big Bang. We even met Greg Foot!

After a long day we went home and then came back to school on Thursday again at 7:30am. We travelled back to the Big Bang with Dr Fletcher and Mrs Mighall. The two Go4set groups had been nominated for special award judging which was to take place during the day. “The Eco Hotel” was nominated for an award in practical science and “The Eco Factory” was nominated for the RAF team working award. Apart from the additional judging, we were allowed to look round the Big Bang again. In the afternoon we had to attend the awards ceremony. We began by walking along the red carpet and collecting our medals; we then took our seats on the front row! We watched the stage as different awards were called out and people went on stage to collect their prizes. Unfortunately, none of us won an overall engineering or science award. However, when it came to the Special Prizes, “The Eco Factory” won the RAF team working award which gained them a trophy, framed certificate, £500 and an exciting STEM day for our school. Overall the Big Bang was an exciting opportunity for all of us. In the end we were very tired after the long three days, but also very proud of all our achievements long the way, how far we have come with our projects and all of the new skills we have learnt.

By Lucia Virdi 10G