V&A Innovate is an annual National Schools Challenge, asking students in years 7, 8 and 9 to work in teams of 4 – 6 to design a solution to a real-world problem.

The Creative Faculty ran the initial ideas and exploration stages as part of year 8 Flexi Day last November. After short listing in house and submission to the V & A Innovate competition, we were delighted that one of our teams were short-listed for the final.

Last week, the team – Thomas, Thomas, Ethan and Ollie – travelled to London with two members of the Art department to compete against the other finalist and pitch their idea - the Medminder - to a panel of experts, including Jay Blades of the Repair Shop Fame.

The students performed superbly, delivering a faultless pitch. The judges were bowled over by the quality of the idea and compassion that had driven the development of their product.

I am delighted to report that the boys won their category and received their V&A Innovate trophy from Jay Blades.

This is a truly excellent achievement. Over 200 schools entered this competition and it was our students who triumphed.

We are so proud of all the work the students put into making the final of the competition such as success.