Cosby Primary School has become a part of the bee-volution
Inventive youngsters at Cosby Primary School have learnt all about bees and biodiversity after winning a prestigious national competition.
The school is also set to adopt its own beehive as part of the prize, after coming first in the UK Intellectual Property Office’s ‘Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Ideas Competition’.
On a bright morning in March, the pupils and their teachers were treated with a prize which saw them adopt no less than 10,000 bees and a sustainably built home for the pollinators. The bees will be based in the green hills of Neath, home to South Wales based company Bee1. Throughout the year the pupils and teachers will view live stream footage of their hive and receive updates from their dedicated beekeeper. Pupils and staff also rolled up their sleeves and took to creating eco-friendly bee bombs which will now spread wildflower seeds around the local community.
The pupils at Cosby Primary School - aged 4-11 - took to the drawing board last year and invented over 200 sustainable and fun new modes of transport for the famous invention loving duo - Wallace and Gromit, powering them over 1000 miles on a virtual journey around the UK. Many of the competition entries were inspired by the humble bumble bee and natural environment.
Debra Gibson, Art and Design Technology Lead, Cosby Primary School said:
Both children and staff were thrilled and excited to have the opportunity to invite our own beekeeper from ‘Bee1’ into our school, to tell us about our beehive and bees, which was one of the fantastic competition prizes. The children were amazed to learn that our school has adopted 10,000 bees and had lots of interesting questions for our beekeeper. Our children and staff in reception were also delighted to be able to take part in a workshop ran by our beekeeper and competition organisers to make ‘bee bombs’ to plant around the school and try some of the honey produced by our bees. We will look forward to learning more about bees, receiving regular updates about what our bees are up to and of course some more honey!
Mark Douglas, Founder, Bee1, said:
We were delighted to support the IPO schools’ competition by providing the school challenge prize to Cosby Primary school. The school has received lots of educational resources, some practical Bee related activities, plus their own school beehive with ten thousand honeybees. Pollinators play such a crucial role to our eco systems, and are under threat. Thanks to the IPO for the support.
As the great inventors of the future are in the classroom, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) believes it’s important to foster a spirit of invention in young people whilst raising the awareness and understanding of Intellectual Property (IP) rights, such as patents, trademarks copyright and designs. In partnership with Aardman animations, the annual Cracking Ideas Competition aims to equip the next generation with the tools and skills needed to secure their future and help make life better for all.
Laurien Webb, Senior Campaigns Manager, IPO said:
All the young inventors at Cosby Primary School been able to explore the design process, invent some fun and innovative modes of transport and understand the value of their ideas. The feedback we have received from teachers and parents across the UK has confirmed that the next generation are truly going to be a cracking bunch of inventors
The IPO have just launched their 14th Cracking Ideas competition along with multi-Academy Award® and BAFTA® award winning studio Aardman.
Rachael Peacock, Senior Brand Manager, Aardman, said:
We are thrilled that Wallace & Gromit will be inspiring the next generation of inventors in this special anniversary year. It’s been 30 years since the Techno Trousers first appeared in The Wrong Trousers and they’ve become one of the most loved contraptions to have appeared in a Wallace & Gromit adventure. We are really excited to see what the young minds come up to put the right back into Wrong!
If you know any budding inventors ages 4 to 11 that would love to get their hands on some cracking prizes, make sure you visit the Cracking Ideas website or follow the IPO Education - Cracking Ideas social media channels to find out more.
Notes to editors
- first launched in June 2007 by the Minister for Science and Innovation, the IPO’s annual Cracking Ideas Competition aims to foster creativity and innovation in young people with a helping hand from two of the UK’s most famous contemporary inventors: Wallace and Gromit
- the 2021/22 National Competition asked young people ages 4 to 11 to design a mode of transport to help Britain’s invention loving duo, Wallace & Gromit, on their tour of innovation around the UK. Entrants’ future mode of transport inventions were judged on how they fun were fun and sustainable and if they had considered the natural environment
- entries to the 2021/22 school challenge ‘powered’ the Wallace & Gromit on a virtual tour of the UK where the duo travelled a mile around the UK for each competition entry received, discovering innovations of the past and future.
- the Cracking Ideas Competition supports the awareness and understanding of Intellectual Property rights through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects for Key Stages 1 and 2 (ages 4 – 11 years).
- the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is the official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.
- Bee1 are on a mission to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators to our natural eco-systems.
- Wallace and Gromit, Aardman’s most loved and iconic duo have been delighting family audiences around the world for 30 years. First hitting our screens in Nick Park’s Academy Award®-winning ‘Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out’ (1989) the pair went on to star in three further half hour specials (Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993), Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (1995) and Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf or Death (2009) and a feature length film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and are internationally celebrated winning over 100 awards at festivals - including 3 Academy Awards® and 5 BAFTA® Awards. A regular highlight of the primetime BBC schedules, especially during the festive season, they have become British national treasures and icons in their own right. ‘Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf or Death’ still remains the most watched Christmas Day programme since 2008 when it premiered on BBCOne. Most recently, the duo featured in their first augmented reality story ‘The Big Fix Up’ that launched in 2021, and a new Wallace & Gromit film has been announced for 2024, directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham