Pupils at Wigtown Primary School, Dumfries, had no need to feel sheepish as they were treated to a model-making workshop with the team who brought iconic characters Wallace and Gromit, Shaun The Sheep, and Morph to life.
The school was rewarded with this remarkable prize after budding inventor Cohen Stuart, in class P4-6 was declared the national winner in 2020 of a prestigious competition for aspiring young inventors, run by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in partnership with Multi-Academy Award® and BAFTA® award winning studio Aardman.
Cohen's ingenious concept of a '3 Brie' printer came top in the IPO's 'Wallace and Gromit Cracking Ideas' competition 2020, from around 1,500 entries from pupils across the UK. Perfect for moments when Wallace or Gromit feel peckish, it prints edible cheese and even lets you choose your favourite type and thickness!
The IPO flagship national competition fires young imaginations, challenging youngsters to come up with an invention. Encouraging children to take inspiration from the world around them, entrants were set the challenge to 'make life better', by building on everyday inventions to improve the lives of themselves, friends, family, or wider collective groups.
The Intellectual Property Office's Chief Executive Tim Moss said:
Our Cracking Ideas competition is all about encouraging young people to be creators and innovators from an early age, and in a fun, challenging and educational way impress on them the importance of protecting their ideas. Cohen deserves an enormous 'well done' for coming up with such an imaginative and delicious idea - I think it would go down well with our staff if ever we installed one at our office!
All the pupils who entered the competition can be really proud of their wonderfully creative contributions, that really showcase the immense talent our next generation of innovators and creators have to offer.
The school's Headteacher Kirsty Andrews said:
We were over the moon to discover that one of our pupils, Cohen Stewart had won this prestigious national competition, and so proud that our school has received such a brilliant prize. Working with the talented model makers of Wallace and Gromit was an incredible experience for the whole class of pupils in P4-6, who got to experience in school how these world-famous characters are brought to life. The pupils asked loads of great questions and had great fun working with the model-makers, and I have to say it was equally fantastic for us 'bigger kids' on the teaching staff, too.
Merlin Crossingham, competition judge and Creative Director of Wallace & Gromit at Aardman said:
We were delighted to finally be able to reward our talented winners of the Cracking Ideas competition from 2020, and we're thrilled to see the fruits of today's model making workshop held at Wigtown Primary School. It was great to see everyone such have incredible fun on the day as Wallace & Gromit's world was brought to life, and the school can be rightly proud of budding inventor Cohen Stewart and his ingenious 3 Brie Printer
Notes:
- the Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Ideas campaign includes curriculum linked teacher resources for key stage one and two, plus a competition
- the project supports STEM curriculums as well as areas of English and numeracy at key stages 1 to 2
- the campaign is a flagship education programme for the IPO and contributes to 'creating a world leading IP environment', helping increase IP's impact through awareness and education
- Aardman, based in Bristol (UK) and co-founded in 1976 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is an independent and multi-Academy Award® and BAFTA® award winning studio. It produces feature films, series, advertising, games and interactive entertainment
- Wallace and Gromit, Aardman's most loved and iconic duo, have been delighting family audiences around the world for 30 years. They are internationally celebrated, winning over 100 awards at festivals - including 3 Academy Awards® and 5 BAFTA® Awards
