PUPILS from St John’s Academy Marlborough represented the region in a national competition set to increase engagement with STEM subjects.

Children from across the county designed, made and tested mini racing cars which reached speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.

Super Sonic Speed, the victorious team of year sevens from St John's, was chosen following a day of activities held at the school which included meeting former pupils who went on to work as engineers at Rolls Royce and Jaguar Land-Rover.

After becoming the fastest team on the day and beating off competition from other schools in the county, they progressed to the final round at RAF Wittering in Peterborough, coming fifth out of 57 teams.

There they battled against pupils interested in science, technology, engineering and maths as they tweaked their racing car designs and brought their prototype to the racing grid.

The pupils revealed the highlights of their day and Jia-Ling said: “We divided the jobs between the team so we could make best use of the time available. James and Tristan were responsible for the aerodynamics and body shape and Amie and myself worked on the wheels and axles.

“We felt the pressure being around other teams, There was a real competitive element to it and we could see the scale of the competition with all of the teams together. We were really proud to think we were all winning teams from regional finals and then to finish 5th was amazing!”

James and Tristen added: “It was very competitive! It was exciting knowing we were representing the whole region. We all agreed on a design for the car in advance and worked together to laser cut templates to help us make sure we cut it accurately.”

Aime said: “It made us think about aerodynamics and the different approaches the teams had taken with their designs. The air shows were the highlight, definitely the Red Arrows.”

Teacher and STEM lead for St John’s, Gary England, said: “I personally am very proud of the students. Their hard work and determination prior to the event meant that we all thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the competition. If the project has ignited a passion for STEM in any of our Year 7 students who might now consider a career in the many number of engineering disciplines then I have done my job.”

The school is now looking for support from local businesses to be able to enter the competition again next year, which was organised by the Learning Partnership.