This year, Mill O’ Forest Primary School invested in a “Greenpower Gobin” kit which allowed the pupils to be introduced to engineering in a fun and innovative way. The pupils spent several weeks carefully assembling the go kart with support from parents who came into school on a voluntary basis.
When the Goblin kit arrived in school it was flat packed and it came with a step by step manual. Building the Goblin introduced basic mechanics to all team members involved and once they completed the kart they had a fully functional car that could be raced competitively. All the pupils from primary 5 to primary 7 were involved in designing the model. The finished kart proudly displayed the beautiful Mill O’ Forest tartan, the crests of the 4 houses within the school and the logos of the sponsors who generously helped to finance the equipment that was needed for the drivers and the support team.
Once the kart was completed, open trials were held in the playground for the P7 pupils and a driving and support team of 13 girls and boys were selected. Representing Mill O’ Forest, they travelled to the racing track at the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford on Saturday 16th June to compete against 27 other schools from all around Scotland. A large number of pupils and parents made the trip to support their friends and classmates.
The first challenge of the morning was a slalom race where drivers had to carefully weave around cones and come to a complete stop within a box. Next the kart’s speed and the driver’s nerves were tested as they drag raced their karts on a straight section of track. The main event in the afternoon was the sprint race. The heats saw 4 karts going head to head and racing three times around the track. Mill O’ Forest won their heat and also went on to qualify in the semi-final. The final of the sprint was hugely exciting as the karts had to travel 6 times around the track. Mill O’ Forest edged into the lead early and battled to stay ahead in what was a nail-biting finish to the day!
The pupils returned to Stonehaven having won trophies for first place in the sprint race and second place in the slalom. They were a real credit to the school and at all times they showed a sense of team spirit and sportsmanship.
