FURNESS academy students welcomed other pupils from other schools for their annual STEM transition week.

Year Six students welcomed other from local primaries have taken part in a STEM Glider challenge each morning, learning to build and balance a cardboard glider ready for flight.

Hundreds of students from Parkside Academy, Newton Village Academy, Yarlside Academy, Victoria Academy, Greengate Junior School, Newbarns Primary School, Roose Primary School, Dane Ghyll Primary School, Barrow Island Primary School, St George’s Primary School, St James’s Junior School, Ormsgill Primary School, and Cambridge Primary School have all spent a morning at Furness Academy over the past week.

During the morning, the students were given a glider kit. In this kit they were provided with a glider body, wings, nose pieces and a selection of items to help balance their planes.

The students had to build the glider, decorate them, and then use plasticine and rubber bands to ensure their planes were perfectly balanced for flight. The students were given time to run practice flights, readjust and rebalance their planes and prepare for a final measured flight.

The students had some great successes with their planes, breaking records daily for the longest flights.

The purpose of the event was to introduce and expand on a number of STEM skills with the Year 6 students, including knowledge of forces, design and evaluation and the mechanics of flights.

Glenn Kaighan, Assistant Director of STEM at Furness Academy said: “It has been great to have the Year 6 students with us during the past week, designing and building their gliders.

“STEM education is really important to us here at Furness Academy and through this our students develop excellent communication and teamwork skills.

“It was brilliant that we were able to give the young students the opportunity to experience STEM study at Furness Academy in an exciting and innovative way.

“The students really enjoyed themselves and I was impressed daily by their designs and the ways they cleverly adapted their gliders for flight. It’s been a busy but great week in our STEM department”.

Chief Operating Officer and Headteacher of Furness Academy Mr Simon Laheney said “It has been great that we have been able to welcome Year 6 students from so many of our local primaries to Furness Academy for a STEM event.

“This is an annual transition event ran by our excellent STEM team and this year, we have hosted students for more schools than ever before.

“We hope that all the students enjoyed their morning at Furness Academy and we look forward to welcoming them back to our school soon”.