On Thursday 29th June, Cumbria Education Trust (CET) welcomed the future environmentalists of the world to battle it out in the CET Innovate Final. Pitching their world-changing ideas to a panel of judges, 12 teams worked hard to win the title of CET Innovate Champions 2023!
Hosted at The Whitehaven Academy, each school showed up ready to face the fierce competition to showcase their product, which had to be designed to help the environment. Armed with display boards, prototypes, branded t-shirts, and even business cards, the children were extremely well-prepared and confident in their presentations and it was a joy to watch.
A panel of five industry professionals had a hard decision on their hands! David Helliwell, one of our judges, said: “’The thought and creativity that went into the presentations was really impressive. We had raps, singing, a fashion show, videos, detailed models, scientific processes and, behind it all, a lot of care and concern for the planet. The judges had such a difficult job in choosing just two winners and we wanted to ensure that all the finalists knew how impressed we were with their work.’’
Here are the fantastic business ideas from each school:
PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Caldew Lea Primary School
Team Name: The Sea Detectives
Product Name: Detective Boat
A special boat that detects rubbish in the sea.
Castle Carrock Primary School
Team Name: Plantovate
Product Name: Root Boots
A pair of walking boots that rewilds nature as you hike.
Hensingham Primary School
Team Name: Endangered Robotics
Product Name: Endanger-Bot
Endanger-Bot is a robot that works to prevent animals from becoming endangered.
Longtown Primary School
Team Name: LPS Fashion Friends
Product Name: Eco Fashion
A clothing range made from recycled materials.
Newtown Primary School
Team Name: Team Clean
Product Name: S4P (Solutions 4 Pollution)
A robot that is made from recycled materials that collects rubbish to prevent pollution.
Northside Primary School
Team Name: Water Works
Product Name: Water Saver
A device that limits the amount of water that flows out of faucets to conserve water and help the environment.
Tebay Primary School
Team Name: The Environment Helpers
Product Name: The Super Sea-Saving Drone
A mechanical moving bin with a detachable drone, that flies out to sea to collect rubbish.
Yanwath Primary School
Team Name: Kinetic Kings
Product Name: Great Green Kinetic Spinner
A fidget spinner that is able to create energy when it is spun around.
Yewdale Primary School
Team Name: The Tree Planters
Product Name: The Spreadaphant
A life-sized, elephant-shaped, tree planting machine.
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
The Whitehaven Academy
Team Name: Forest Ninjas
Product Name: Community Forest & Rewilding
Rewilding areas and focusing on ecosystem relationships between fauna, flora and fungi to rebalance ecosystem dynamics and reduce soil degradation and carbon footprint.
William Howard School
Team Name: Glyco-Fuel
Product Name: A.G.P.G – Artificial Glycogenic Power Generation
Removing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to create glucose to then create a renewable energy source.
Workington Academy
Team Name: The Enquirers
Product Name: The Fire Finder
The Fire Finder is a product that will change the world indefinitely as it stops fires from ravaging the forests.
Following an exciting and informative presentation round, it was decided that Kinetic Kings, from Yanwath Primary School, were the Primary award winners and Glyco-Fuel, from William Howard School, won the Secondary award!
A fantastic day was had by all, especially the children who made lots of new friends and had the opportunity to present their ideas. Well done to all of the winners and a big thank you to the judges. A special mention goes to the CET Student Events team, driven and led by Nic Tweddle, for creating such an inspiring event.
