Go4SET is a UK wide educational programme allowing secondary school pupils to work with organisations to address issues of sustainability and engineering/science awareness.
School teams from across Lanarkshire took part in the Go4SET Celebration and Assessment Day (CAD) on Friday 10th May showcasing their projects to judges and guests as well as competing for a number of awards. The event, hosted by South Lanarkshire Council in the Almada Suite Banqueting Hall was a great success and the judges selected St Andrew’s & St Bride’s High School as the winner of the Best Overall Project Award for their outstanding work on the use of biomass as a source of renewable energy
The team were presented with a trophy and a cheque for £250 by Martin Grey from Viridor and they will now go forward to the Go4SET Scottish Final which will be held in the Scottish Parliament on Friday 18th May.
Linda Fabiani MSP for East Kilbride commented ““I am so looking forward to the final on Friday and welcoming St Andrew’s and St Bride’s pupils to the Parliament – they are a credit to East Kilbride and Lanarkshire. Go4Set is a great project and well done to the school and to DTA Architects for having the vision to participate in such an interesting competition.”
The CAD awards were sponsored by Viridor and Martin Grey, Scottish Communications Manager commented; from wind farms to waste management, how we create a sustainable Scotland is rightly the subject of intense debate. As Scotland’s leading recycling, renewable energy and sustainable waste partner working with 96% of local authorities that is a debate we are keen to encourage. It’s for that reason we are delighted to support the Go4SET programme across Scotland, challenging young people to think about their environment and future. “Like Viridor, young people are committed to their environment and conscious of how they utilise resources. The standard of entries was again very high and I congratulate the young people on their work. With talented young people like those who took part today, Scotland’s future is sure to be bright.”
St Andrew’s and St Bride’s were supported by South Lanarkshire Council and DTA Architects during the project and their mentor John Devlin – Director at DTA Architects commented “Everyone at DTA would like to congratulate the team on their success. The determination with which they went about this year’s challenge was inspiring and they exhibited a real willingness to work as a team and support each other. It has been a real pleasure working with them and the staff at St Andrews and St Brides school and I’m now looking forward to next year’s challenge.’
The other award winners at the event were Bellshill Academy Team 3 supported by NG Bailey who won the Innovation Award and a cheque for £200, Holy Cross High School supported by South Lanarkshire Council who won the Best Team Work Award and a cheque for £150 and Dalziel High School supported by TATA Steel who won the Students Choice Award and a cheque for £100.
The Go4SET biomass project began at the launch event in November 2011 and the teams of six 12 to 14 year olds (S2) continued to work with their teacher and mentors from industry on the challenging 10-week project. They were tasked to research a biomass fuelled renewable electricity and heat plant for their school and provide a written report on their findings, produce a model and display these at the celebration event.
Duncan McSporran, EDT Director for Scotland commented “This dynamic and innovative curriculum based programme has proved to significantly change the perception of young people on careers and opportunities within science and engineering industries.”
