A group of enthusiastic Glossopdale School students reached the final of a national competition which gave them a unique experience of what it's like to be a team of engineers. 

Seven different Year 8 pupils from the Hadfield-based secondary school took part in this year's Faraday Challenge, organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). 

It's an annual competition for 12 and 13-year-olds, who work on a real-world engineering problem and explore some of the challenges faced by industry today. Students work together to design and build a prototype and present their findings back to the group.

The task for 2021 was for the students to design and engineer a prototype that would help Network Rail cope with increased passenger numbers on their platform.

Glossopdale School's original team, which got through to the final, comprised of Zack Winterbottom, Jessamine Robinson, Charlotte Simm, Cameron Bowers and Natasha Woodham.

But unfortunately both Natasha and Charlotte could no longer take part due to unforeseen circumstances. 

It only added even more drama and pressure for the remaining students ahead of the virtual final on Tuesday (13 July), where they competed against four other schools from across the country. 

Charlotte Smith, teacher at Glossopdale School, said: "Students had to engineer another prototype and present to Network Rail bosses virtually. Our design focused on a door entry system that would only allow a certain number of passengers onto the platform at anyone time.

"The design had a strong emphasis on sustainability and used solar panels and recycled food waste to power it.

"Although we didn’t win the whole competition, to come as a runner-up is an incredible achievement. They worked amazingly as a team and were a credit to the school." 

The school's runners-up team was Sam Fofana, Zack Winterbottom, Cameron Bowers, Eleanor Doyle and Jessamine Robinson, who are pictured. 

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