Rathmore Grammar School

Sentinus STEM activity day

Tuesday 31st January 2012 saw the Sentinus team arrive in Rathmore aiming to promote STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) subjects through fun activity- based workshops.  All pupils in Year 10 participated in a number of sessions throughout the day.

Pupils were encouraged to work in small teams to design and manufacture a rocket that was capable of being launched 300+ feet into the air!  As with all great engineering and design teams, everyone had a role to play…be it designing the nose cone or adding the stabilising flaps. 

Some fantastic creations were produced and ready to launch from a special piece of equipment that utilised compressed air. 
Some of the best rockets flew easily past the 300ft mark, with others struggling to clear the roof line!  Regardless of how well they flew, all pupils had an enjoyable experience and learnt a lot about working in teams to overcome engineering challenges.

After a fantastic event the day before, the Sentinus team returned to Rathmore and were joined by a number of personnel from NIE.  The two firms are currently working together in order to make pupils more aware of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) subjects, leading specifically into Engineering.

60 pupils from three different tutor groups participated in a number of activity based workshops throughout the day.  They also had the opportunity to hear from speakers that have came through NIE’s training schemes and sponsored engineering programmes at Queen’s University.  A perfect opportunity to put questions to the young engineers (in this case, all women!) and gain an insight into the training, qualifications, what they do on a day-to-day basis and most importantly…what the pay is like!

Some of the activities included role play relating to electron flow around a circuit, group activities based on questions relating to the power supply across NI and building generators, and motors. 

On behalf of the Year 9 pupils and staff involved, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Sentinus and NIE team for taking the time to provide us with this factual experience.

On behalf of the Year 10 pupils and staff at Rathmore I would like to thank the Sentinus team for putting on a fantastic day!

Mr A. Donnelly
(Head of Design and Technology)