[R]ace for the Line (RftL) is a national STEM competition, sponsored by the Royal Navy, Army and RAF. Now entering its third year, Race for the Line has approximately 1,000 schools registered to participate and nearly 200,000 students directly engaged.
The Royal Navy has invited Energy Coast UTC to host a Regional Race Hub. Vice Principal Ben Stevenson will lead the project as the region’s Chief Rocketeer. In his role Ben will visit local schools to run school-based races and host the regional final at Energy Coast UTC in May 2018. Ben, will also travel to London to host rocket races and participate in the four London based regional finals.
The cross-curricular Race for the Line classroom activity and national competition is one of the most successful initiatives currently available to UK schools. It is operated by The Learning Partnership and supported by The Royal Air Force, The British Army, The Royal Navy, Oxford University, Microsoft and a growing number of businesses. The project enables teachers to introduce and teach STEM concepts interactively within the current national curriculum structure, with students working in small, inclusive teams to discuss, design and then build a model rocket car.
In parallel they explore STEM concepts such as aerodynamics and resistant materials as well as computer programming through the use of micro:bits. This work culminates in races between the teams, with the winners of each event moving onto regional and ultimately a national.
Ben Stevenson, Vice Principal – Energy Coast UTC said: “Last year Energy Coast UTC were placed as runners up in the national finals in the Race for the Line competition. It is a great honour to be chosen to host regional finals. We are delighted to be have been asked. Events like this are very much about inspiring the next generation of young engineers about how they can change and shape the future, something which is at the core of what we do at Energy Coast UTC.”
