Perse and Singaporean students join forces for design challenge

Students from Singapore got their heads together with Perse pupils to create ingenious fitness devices in a special challenge event.

Following the success of a similar programme last year, a group of students from the School of Science and Technology, Singapore (SST) spent two days at the Upper working with Year 9 Perse pupils in trying to design an interactive keep-fit activity or game, while considering playability, complexity and aesthetics.

In small teams, they combined design and technology knowledge with computer science skills, with access to laser cutters and 3D printers for building their devices and Microbits to code their projects.

The groups rounded off the design challenge with presentations on how they had approached their work before showing their projects in action.

Perse Head of Computing & Digital Strategy Paul Baker said: “It was lovely to welcome this group of SST students to the Perse and it was amazing to see how enthusiastic and committed they were to our joint Design, Build & Pitch Challenge. It was also fantastic for our Year 9 pupils to work with a slightly older group of students and learn a great deal of transferrable skills from them as well.

“From our perspective, it was an excellent opportunity for design & technology, computer science and entrepreneurial and group work skills to all develop together in a cross-discipline way. Our students learned a lot and gained confidence from taking part in the project.”