Wednesday

Bloodhound K’nex Air-powered Car Challenge

On Wednesday and Thursday of Design Week, MTS hosted the Bloodhound education team. Groups of MTS pupils, supported by staff, tackled the K’nex air rocket challenge and were given a tour of the Bloodhound Education car by Mike Ford (Bloodhound education team leader) and David Shelton. Mr Hivey writes “For Design Week, I took two classes along to learn about the Bloodhound project and take part in the air rocket car challenge, with winning teams from each group having their team name placed on the actual Bloodhound car that will attempt the 1000 mph record. Mike Ford and David Shelton who led the sessions were both extremely enthusiastic and motivational as they explained some of the problems the Bloodhound team faced in trying to reach their projected top speed. Boys were split into small groups and attempted to build cars out of K’nex, which were able to withstand the force from the air rocket, and travel straight down a track. Most groups had fundamental issues with one or both of these and therefore many of the cars were destroyed on launch which as well as being hilarious was a good learning point for the boys about construction. Some of the groups jumped straight into the right mind-set straight away however and built compact cars with a low centre of gravity, which were able to be projected a substantial distance. It was a thoroughly enjoyable session”.

All winning teams will have the honour of having their team name on the rear fin of the Bloodhound car attempting to break the 1000mph barrier in 2016.

PHAB Bloodhounds and Electric Umbrella

The MTS PHAB team hosted PHAB and Mencap guests for lunch before they were given a tour of the Bloodhound Education car. As if this were not enough, the group were entertained by Electric Umbrella, led by the effervescent Tom Billington under the canopy of the new build. The group also celebrated the legendary Paddy’s birthday with chocolate cake, banners, and streamers.

Everyone had great fun.

Bloodhound Challenge

U6th Engineering and Physics UCAS applicants, along with a number of keen DT students from younger years, were treated to a fantastic evening with the Bloodhound SSC team. After a fascinating presentation on the Bloodhound SSC project, the boys designed and made the shape of their own car in teams, using high-density foam. The highlight of the evening was fixing the rockets to the cars and launching them in the darkness as we tested to see which car reached the highest speed. This was followed by detailed analysis and mathematical treatment of the data collected; it was impressive to see Divisions students get stuck into Sixth Form-level work.

Nick Gore and Recycle-a-bike

Recycle-a-Bike are a not-for-profit volunteer-based organisation, founded by Nick Gore, which helps people who suffer from mental health issues, by providing support and training. Recycle-a-Bike offers a full range of bike services from total restorations to routine maintenance.

Recycleabike set up a pop-up shop in DT at MTS on the Wednesday and Thursday of Design Week when groups of GCSE DT students gained experience in the lost art of wheel-building and straightening before learning how to get extra miles from their old bikes with some careful bike maintenance.

Nick and the two Petes from Recycleabike proved themselves natural-born teachers, with most wobbly wheels being truer at the end of the session than at the start.

Recycle-a-bike: Stepping Stone Back to Employment

Christian Coull (U6) writes: “An eye-opening group session with Recycle-a-bike founder Nick Gore and volunteer Pete Toovey aimed to educate U6th Psychology students about the effects mental illness has on sufferers and how it can be successfully treated if service users are provided with social skills training, support and a ‘stepping stone back to employment’. Not only did the session with Nick achieve this, but it went so much further. We learned about Pete’s case through a short video. Pete had been diagnosed with mixed anxiety-depressive disorder, and we were able to put questions to him afterwards. Pete spoke openly and confidently about his own personal struggles with mental illness, enlightening us to the possible causes of his disorder, the power that social skills training has played in his road to recovery and the consequences of drug treatment. Classwork-relevant, informative and inspiring; I can only thank Nick and Pete for visiting our class and urge them to keep on doing what they’re doing.” 

On the Couch!

Upper Sixth Form Psychology students were given the precious opportunity to speak to Recycle-a-bike founder, Nick Gore. The company repairs and services push bikes, with the added benefit of employing sufferers of mental illness. The scheme functions as a service for bike users whilst providing opportunities for mental illness sufferers to leave the house and engage in rewarding occupation.

The Upper Sixth Psychology students, who study schizophrenia treatments as part of their A level course, discussed the causes and experiences of mental illness with a Recycle-a-bike employee, Pete. Due in no small part to Pete’s candid approach to his condition, the Psychology students offered questions about living with mental illness and were given answers which will inform their later examination work. We were all grateful to Mr. Stephenson for organising the talk and, of course to Nick and Pete, whose insight into a sensitive issue proved to be an invaluable experience.

Nick Gore and the Recycle-a-bike team @ Mountain bike games option

Eight boys who take Mountain Biking as a Games option, joined Nick Gore and his team of Recycle-a-bike mechanics to learn how to service and care for their own bikes. We were expertly shown how to tweak gears, balance brakes, and generally care for our own bikes. All of the boys agreed it was an incredibly worthwhile and fun activity. Our thanks go to Nick and his team for their patience in teaching us all how to make our bikes a nicer ride. All of the bikes have now been out on a test drive through the woods, and no squeaky brakes or clunky gears were heard! Thank you, Recycle-a-bike!

To view all 'Design Week' articles, please click here.
To return to Parvae Res, please click here.