Victory Academy Celebrates Student Creativity and Teamwork

The Victory Academy, a mixed secondary school and sixth form in Chatham, Kent, was thrilled to receive support from Engineering UK's Big Bang at Schools programme.

The school's ethos of 'Respect, Pride, and Belief' aims to equip students with the best tools and opportunities for academic and professional success, regardless of background. In recent years, the school has focused on expanding its science department and raising awareness of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths) in everyday life and careers.

On December 16^th & 17^th 2025 over 120 students took part in a two day engineering challenge, culminating in an awards ceremony led by local councillors. The students worked in teams to create a working prototype that met a specific brief. The brief asked students to create an interactive installation for their local community.

While designing their prototype, teams had to be mindful of a number of constraints, including working within a budget, managing team dynamics and keeping an engineering log of their progress. Teams also needed to develop a presentation that outlined how successful they were at meeting the brief, and a poster that outlined the development journey. After the presentations, the local school community, including local councillors and parents came together to celebrate the students’ achievements.

“Event organiser Kyla at The STEM Hub said: “The students were so engaged in the process, and spoke eloquently about why their prototypes worked and how they met the brief. It was a really inspiring event to be a part of.”

Victory Academy warmly thanked EngineeringUK and The STEM Hub for their support and is excited to build on this inspiring success in future STEM initiatives.