A STUDENT put a design challenge to the sword, single-handedly fending off teams in a competition to design a sculpture.

 

Engineering students at The King's Academy, Coulby Newham, which specialises in business and enterprise, were challenged to design a sculpture that encapsulated one of the school's seven core values - courage.

 

Nick Wright worked alone on the project against his classmates who divided into teams. And his design was selected as the winning sculpture which now takes pride of place in the Academy's outdoor quadrangle.

 

The 14-year-old, who has been considering a career in the army, came up with the idea of a shield bearing the cross of St George, traversed by a sword.

 

"I came up with a few designs and it took quite a while to get it right," said the Year 10 student.

 

"I thought the shield, sword and cross best suited the idea of courage but I was really surprised and pleased to win. The finished sculpture looks amazing and I am so proud. I might even switch careers now and do something in engineering."

 

Nick began designing the sculpture on paper and then fashioned a scale model in high impact polystyrene and sheet steel.

 

With the help of local businesses a full size version was created from steel by teacher Jamie Smith, a former steel fabricator.

 

This was then treated in special preservative by Newton Aycliffe specialists ALMIT Coatings Ltd. Also involved in the project were Baydale Ltd and Fab-Tech Ltd, also of Newton Aycliffe, in County Durham.

 

Chris Drew, Principal of The King's Academy, said: "Nick's sculpture looked great at the design stage and really captured our core value of courage. Seeing it in situ, it looks even better and the aim now is to repeat the process until we have a garden full of sculptures representing each of the Academy's seven values."

 

The protective coating will ensure the shield lasts for years to come. ALMIT specialises in treatments and has worked on projects including Heathrow's Terminal 5, the London Olympic buildings, North Sea oil rigs and nuclear power stations.

 

Managing director Dr Allan Mitchell said: "We are delighted to be involved in anything that links up with local schools and encourages young people to become interested in science and engineering."