Leyland pupils join Lancashire Education Business Partnership egg event

7:42pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

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Leyland youngsters battled against pupils from across the county in Lancashire's finest egg based cosmic space race, organised by Lancashire Education Business Partnership (LEBP).

The teams, from eight schools across Lancashire, including Wellfield Business and Enterprise College, built rockets out of plastic bottles and other everyday items then, using water and compressed air, launched their eggs as part of the annual egg loft challenge'.

The competition took place at Broughton Business and Enterprise College and saw over 100 people gather to watch the teams compete to keep the egg in the air the longest and bring it safely back down to earth.

Gillian Beeley, chief executive at LEBP said: "This is one of the great ways that we get children interested in science and engineering, and to show them how relevant it is to their future careers.

"Allowing children to put classroom skills into practice helps them look towards employment and means our future workforce is motivated and skilled up."

LEBP works in partnership with employers, schools and colleges across Lancashire by co-ordinating their work experience programmes and supporting employers through providing advice and guidance on working with young people.

Woodbugs, which specialises in rocket launch kits, was on hand to offer the teams expert advice and technical guidance.

Owner Matthew Atherton said: "It was a terrific event with some great rockets which really showcased the students different ideas."

The event was part of the SETPOINT project which is being run by LEBP and aims to allow all young people to participate in science activities linking schools with employers and the world of work.

The winning school was Our Lady's Queen of Peace Catholic High School in Skelmersdale.