Cracking idea by Whitley Bay school makes it best for innovation

A machine which performs helpful tasks for you while you watch TV designed by pupils at a Whitley Bay school has come out on top in prestigious competition to find the inventors of the future.

The ‘Helpful Hand’ machine designed by Year Five pupils at Marden Bridge Middle School has been chosen as the North East winner of the 2007 Cracking Ideas project. They will now battle it out with five other schools from around the country for the national title.

Cracking Ideas is fronted by Oscar® winning inventors Wallace & Gromit, and is the biggest government backed project of its type. The search is now on for the 2008 innovators.

During the summer term children and teachers around the UK were logging onto www.crackingideas.com and following lessons plans linked with the national curriculum and designed to encourage innovation.

The classroom activities included a competition where the nine and ten-year-old pupils used everyday objects to create an invention – a solution to an everyday problem they had encountered.

The pupils from Marden Bridge came up with a model to make watching TV an even more relaxing experience. The head gear takes the work (or what there is of it) away from watching TV with extendable hands doing anything from reaching for the remote control to massaging your face. They will even help you blow your nose. An old builder’s hat supports the arms, drinking straws and a used pair of gloves have also been put to use.

The Cracking Ideas project was developed by the UK Intellectual Property Office which encourages innovation and processes patent and trade mark applications. The success of the competition means it will be run again this year.

Amongst Marden Bridge Middle School’s prizes is a lap top computer. If they are successful in the national competition they will be presented with an original trophy by Aardman Animations, creator of Wallace & Gromit.

Paul Charlton, head of Design and Technology at Marden Bridge Middle School, said the Year Five pupils had worked hard to come up with the winning entry.

"This was a fantastic initiative and a great way to bring learning to life and show children how important innovation is. We are really pleased to have won the regional competition and hope we have come up with the cracking idea that will win the national title," he said.

Intellectual Property and Quality Minister Lord Triesman, said the standard of entries was high.

"Cracking Ideas has successfully brought innovation into the classroom and has been a tremendous success."

"Marden Bridge Middle has shown how school children can be great innovators and we are looking forward to seeing more of this in the future," he said.

More information on Cracking Ideas can be found at www.crackingideas.com