In May 2006 Sherburn High School launched a week of science, technology, engineering and mathematics with a two day STEM fair in the sports hall. The fair featured a series of workshops for year 10 students, focusing on structural challenge construction skills, highways design, go kart construction, data logging, chemical analysis of water and other aspects of science and technology. School played host to a birds of prey exhibition which included a vulture, an eagle owl and a golden eagle which apparently went fly-about, however eventually turned up after a tour of the surrounding area! Students also had the opportunity to ponder the universe in an inflatable planetarium, they laid back and gazed at the stars whilst listening to a presentation.

For the finale, Sherburn High welcomed the arrival of the Starchaser rocket! Standing eleven metres high it is the largest rocket ever to have flown from mainland UK. Throughout Friday each year group listened to a 40 minute presentation followed by a close look at the rocket. During the course of the morning, students from the year 9 and 10 gifted and talented group and four students from Brayton College built motor propelled rockets, which they launched 2,000 feet into the air from the playing field. There was great competition between teams and the tension mounted as launch time approached. Each team launched their own rocket with very few hiccups and produced a 100% success rate, some rockets disappeared onto rooftops but most were retrieved and will go on display in the science department. Events were filmed by Gary Johnstone and his team of The Proper Television and Wireless Company. They were filming for a series of six programmes focusing on people’s obsessions with machines, beginning with Steve Bennett of Starchaser Industries. The programmes will be aired on ITV in July this year and we were delighted that they chose Sherburn High to film their first scenes.