BRIGHT sparks at Ashburton’s newly-opened Atrium Studio School have been declared the best in the west in a competition to find the country’s next generation of top scientists and engineers.

An all-girl ‘Eco Savers’ team of four Year 9 students scooped the accolade in Shell’s national schools’ science competition, The Bright Ideas Challenge.

Delighted Jessica Reynolds, Emily Judge, Iona Nash and Isobel Burridge said afterwards: ‘The Bright Ideas Challenge really got us thinking about the future we’ll be living in. It’s inspiring to see how the things we’ve learnt about in Science and Design Engineer Construct can change the world.’

Competitors aged 11-14 were asked to use their science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills to come up with creative solutions for powering future cities.

The Atrium team’s illuminating idea of creating self-sustaining toilet blocks in future cities earned them £1,500 to ‘super-size’ the STEM learning experience at their school as well as a tablet computer for each member.

Judges were impressed by the girls’ creative thinking, their sound scientific research and how practical and simple their idea would be to roll out.

Small hydro-electrical generators incorporated into the pipes of all sinks and toilets would generate electrical energy from the force of the water that would power the lights, hand dryers and cleaning equipment. Surplus energy would be fed into the National Grid.

The win has also secured the quartet VIP status at Make the Future Live, Shell’s four-day festival of ideas and innovation at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from May 25-28. 

They will also meet Rachel Riley, TV personality, maths expert and The Bright Ideas Challenge Ambassador.

Gareth Thistleton, Shell’s STEM education manager, commented: ‘The quality of creative thinking from the ‘Eco Savers’ team really impressed the judges. Not only was their idea imaginative, it was also rooted in sound scientific research. It’s inspiring to see the creative problem solvers of tomorrow grapple with real issues and come up with genuinely exciting ideas.’

Sam Westaway, personal coach at Atrium Studio School, said: ‘It means a huge amount to the girls to come up with an outstanding bright idea and really excel - especially as engineering is seen as being male dominated.

‘As we are a brand new school we are going to use the £1500 prize to have more Science and Maths resources and more Engineering tools in our Design, Engineering and Construct Department.’