Pupils from a Derbyshire school stepped hundreds of years back in time to see how science can be put in practice with a medieval trebuchet when they visited a Melbourne engineering firm.
The pupils, from Melbourne Junior School, in Pack Horse Road, took part in a Trebuchet Challenge as part of British Science Week in a special organised and hosted by Acres Engineering.
The visit began with a tour of the firm, which designs and manufactures a range of equipment and products including trolleys, access platforms and work benches, at its HQ in Castle Lane.
The youngsters saw many of the company’s products taking shape in the workshops during their tour and learned how materials change through the manufacturing process, before they were invited to operate a miniature trebuchet, which was made by Acres’ staff and modelled on the giant catapults soldiers once used to attack castles.
Their task, which took place under the watchful eye of the company’s production manager Jeremy Peterson and HR and HSQE manager Alice Parker, was to alter the machine’s weights and pin alignment in order to hurl a bean bag the furthest distance possible.
Luke Parker, managing director of Acres Engineering, said: “We host visits from a number of schools throughout the year and it’s been a pleasure holding our medieval Trebuchet Challenge with Melbourne Junior School as part of British Science Week.
“During an event ideas meeting, Alice came up with the great idea of design and manufacturing a small trebuchet. We held an internal competition to design the trebuchet and we manufactured it ourselves on site. It worked extremely well and the children have really enjoyed it – and I’m sure our staff will want to have a go too.
“It’s very important for us as a local engineering company to raise our profile locally and to inspire the minds of young people. There is a chance that seeing inside a factory will spark an interest in an engineering career and help lead us to the next exciting generation of engineering.”
School pupil Seb Froggatt, eight, came top of the leaderboard when his class took part in the challenge, having hurled his beanbag a mighty 5.81m across the room.
He said: “I liked seeing how far the bean bag went and I was really proud to win. I have enjoyed coming to Acres and learning about engineering. I like playing with Lego at home and I liked seeing the laser cutters today.”
Catherine Fowkes, a teacher at Melbourne Junior School, said: “This was a wonderful hands-on experience for the children, who have seen how products go from the design process through to the final product and viewed the machines in action.
“The Trebuchet Challenge has been great fun and it’s something that the children will remember and something we will talk about and reflect on in the classroom.”
Acres Engineering has recently made the news for its profound commitment to improving life chances for young people through offering apprenticeships and work placements.
For the last 15 years the company has consistently taken on three or four apprentices annually and has helped many more young people on the first step of their careers through work placements.
