A nationwide competition for secondary schools is being launched by London Gatwick via its ‘Learn Live’ online portal, challenging students to develop an effective energy saving idea, which could be implemented at the airport.

The aim of the competition is to encourage increased interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and will run in conjunction with the British Science Association’s CREST Awards scheme.

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The CREST Awards scheme is the only nationally recognised accreditation scheme for STEM project work and encourages students to learn by solving a problem or answering a question, rather than simply following instructions or being presented with information.

Each school team that registers for the competition will also need to register separately for the CREST Bronze Award online and the first 20 teams that enter will have their registration fee for the Award paid for by the airport. There can be a maximum of one team from each school and 10 students in each team.

The students will receive specific instructions about how to submit their entry via the Learn Live video links, which are completely interactive and provide two-way communications. This will also provide the students with the unique opportunity to put their questions directly to airport engineering and technical staff, from their classroom, and receive immediate expert feedback on their ideas. The ideas can be anything from using a new low energy technology to how Gatwick could carry out a process in a more energy efficient way.

All entries will be displayed at the South East’s Big Bang Fair on the 27 and 28 June, which Gatwick is the headline sponsor for, and the winning team will be invited for a behind the scenes tour of the airport in July.

The competition forms part of Gatwick’s Community Engagement ‘Inform, Inspire, Invest’ education strategy, including partnerships with other STEM initiatives, such as the Big Bang Fair and Learn Live broadcasts.

To enter and find out more information, schools should register their interest before the 23 March by emailing: energychallenge@gatwickairport.com, stating their name, school and contact details.

The airport is also supporting the Government’s national ‘Year of Engineering 2018’ campaign, which is celebrating engineering and helping to raise its status as an aspirational career path among young people, their parents and teachers.

Gatwick Airport’s Head of Community Engagement, Alison Addy, said:

“Gatwick is proud to be hosting this national competition and we look forward to seeing as many schools take part as possible.

“STEM skills are required for a wide range of jobs at the airport and it is our aim to inform and inspire the next generation of young people to consider a career using these skills.”

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