Eight schools have successfully progressed to Round 2 of the Darlington Schools Jacobs Big Big Project – STEAM: Ahead, a groundbreaking initiative in partnership with Darlington Borough Council and Darlington College. This competition challenges students to envision the future of Darlington using innovation, market research and the council’s three key areas for long-term success. 

In this next stage, student teams, guided by business mentors, delve deeper into research and development by: 

  • Exploring successful case studies of thriving town centres and identifying key selling points. 

  • Gathering community feedback to understand what residents love about Darlington and what they feel is missing. 

  • Refining their growth strategies from Round 1 based on research insights. 

  • Incorporating feedback from judges to enhance their proposals. 

Alongside their project work, students participated in a series of interactive workshops designed to broaden their understanding of key industries and opportunities: 

  • Marketing Darlington: Showcasing a Hidden Gem to the World – Students explored how to create compelling tourism marketing campaigns, using Darlington as a case study. 

  • Green, Sustainable Energy – Why Do We Need It? – This session highlighted the area's industrial heritage and discussed strategies to encourage people to live and start businesses in Darlington, with a focus on sustainable energy. 

  • Cars of the Future – Make and Race Your Own Mini Electric Vehicles – An engineering-focused workshop where students learned about the future of vehicle production and transportation, gaining hands-on experience by building and racing mini electric vehicles. 

Following Round 2, the following schools have secured their place in the Grand Final—listed in no particular order: 

  • Hummersknott 

  • Longfield 

  • Haughton 

  • Carmel 

  • St Aidan's 

The Grand Final will take place on 25th March at the Dolphin Centre in Darlington, where the finalists will present their visionary ideas for Darlington in 2040 to a panel of experts, competing for the title of competition champions. 

Lead for Extra Curricular at Houghton Academy, Megan Alexander- Weir stated ‘It’s been a really exciting day for all the students. They had the opportunity to engage in lots of different activities. It’s been a really good chance for them to present to different people and push themselves out of their comfort zones. Although there were a lot of nerves, I know they will all be very pleased with themselves now.’    

One student also commented that ‘I’m really happy to be able to take part in this project. It has given me a lot of ideas about what I want to do when I leave school!’  

This exciting initiative is inspiring the next generation of thinkers, innovators and future leaders while fostering creativity and collaboration across schools, businesses and the local community. 

For further inquiries, please contact: 

Email: epp@bhcet.org.uk