Schools design challenge winners revealed

Free-to-use images are available here Credit: Michael McGurk

Schools design challenge winners revealed

The winners of a Scotland-wide schools design challenge will be celebrated in a new display opening at V&A Dundee today (Friday 17 May).

S1 and S2 pupils were asked to redesign their local high street or shopping centre to create a more sustainable, inclusive and accessible experience as part of Streets Ahead, a design challenge supported by NCR Foundation.

Streets Ahead introduced pupils to the tools and techniques designers use to solve real-world problems, giving the young people design skills and greater confidence in their own creativity.

64 schools across 24 local authorities registered to participate in the challenge, with nine finalist teams being chosen to attend a one-day design jam at V&A Dundee earlier this year.

The nine finalist schools are Portlethen Academy (Aberdeenshire), Carnoustie High School (Angus), Tarbert Academy (Argyle and Bute), Braeview Academy (Dundee), St Paul’s RC Academy (Dundee), Grange Academy (East Ayrshire), Hyndland Secondary School (Glasgow), Kinross High School (Perth and Kinross) and Bannockburn High School (Stirlingshire).

At the design jam each team worked with a professional designer to further develop their ideas before being judged by Mike Soutar, business leader and investor, Joanna Mawdsley, Head of Learning at V&A Dundee, and Leigh Duncan and Andrew Smith of NCR Atleos.

Each team then worked with Sky Up Academy where they became editors, producers, camera operators, script writers and reporters to create a short film in the format of a news broadcast about their idea. These films will all be shown in the museum.

The winning team, St Paul’s RC Academy in Dundee, used the theme of social change to reimagine the Beauly shops in their local area of Kirkton and will now complete a week of work experience with NCR Atleos.

Cole, a pupil at St Paul’s RC Academy, said: “By participating in Streets Ahead I have learned to take an idea in my head and make it into something tangible. My favourite part of the challenge was creating the news broadcast at Sky Up Academy, and I liked learning whilst also having fun. I am very proud of our team, and I am excited to complete my work experience at NCR Atleos where I can learn new skills that will help me later in life.”

Fraser Christie, Principal Teacher of Computing at St Paul’s RC Academy, said: “I think Streets Ahead has been brilliant for the pupils. They have had a chance to harness their creativity and enthusiasm following the design process, working on a real-life relevant problem that they can see in their community.”

Gary Jamieson, Schools Development Officer at V&A Dundee, said: “Streets Ahead has allowed the young people to work on real-life issues within their communities. I have seen the participants develop and implement their ideas through collaborative working while following the design process. They have really embraced the challenge head on and I'm excited and inspired that these young people are in charge of the future.”

Leigh Duncan, Industry & Product Marketing Manager at NCR Atleos, said: “STEM careers are the future for many Scottish children, and NCR Atleos want to support young adults to succeed in their future. We have loved the creativity and enthusiasm each finalist has brought to their design, hopefully we are seeing the engineers of the future.”

St Paul’s RC Academy chose their local shops to redesign, as in the past there has been antisocial behaviour making it somewhere the young people don’t want to spend time.

The winning team began the challenge by listing things about the area they felt needed to change before surveying their fellow pupils on what improvements they would like to see. Before the design jam they used Minecraft to design the area and then created a physical model of their new design with help from designer Nathan McWilliams.

Their project includes a smart bus stop, charging points, an outdoor area, children’s playpark, wildflower garden, community café, and a covered walkway in front of the shops.

Streets Ahead builds on the previous Schools Design Challenges V&A Dundee has run since before the museum opened, giving school pupils the opportunity to work together on using creativity to solve problems which personally affect them.

Working through the design process as part of Streets Ahead will encourage students to become adaptable, confident, creative problem solvers. Research by the British Council identified that 65% of today’s school pupils will be employed into jobs that don’t yet exist. Skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, as well as Design and Art, are increasingly in demand.

The Streets Ahead display is free and open from Friday 17 May to Sunday 3 November.

The display has also been sustainably designed, reusing materials from the Radio 1 Big Weekend Experience and the Tartan exhibition.