Horsham school’s road safety project wins national award

The St Mary's team collecting their prize

St Mary’s School won the primary school award for years four to six in the final of PA Consulting’s annual Raspberry Pi programming competition at CodeNode, London.

Pupils enjoyed a day of core science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities, speed networking sessions with business leaders, plus the chance to exhibit their invention.

The team of pupils and parents scooped the award for their Park and Stride invention.

The project used technology to encourage children and parents to walk to school instead of parking outside the school gates, which can cause accidents and increase pollution.

The team used its ingenuity to create a product that enables children to scan in on a portable Raspberry Pi device using RFID keyring tags at drop off points away from the school. They then walk to school and scan in again when safely onsite.

The judges said the team was brilliant, well-organised and really looked to solve a problem across many boundaries, including pollution, security and health.

A spokesman for the judges added: “The product is something that could be used at every school in the country.

“The group used a variety of technology and applications to bring their product to life and presented their product well, creating a detailed website to match.”

Each category winner received £1,000 prize money in the competition for primary, secondary and college students.

But St Mary’s School wasn’t the only team from Horsham to perform well.

Hack Horsham was a finalist in the secondary school award category, academic years seven to nine.

The Hack Horsham team presented its TrainBot invention – a train safety and management system, that captures real-time data and prompts actions to ensure safe travel.

The competition aims to make participants inspire change and transform transport. For more see www.paconsulting.com/raspberrypi