Aston Arrows
2024-25 Season
Welcome to our third season running Aston Arrows Racing. Our club is part of Greenpower Education Trust project which gives children an opportunity to learn about STEM through building and racing a car. Over the school year, the children will be blogging weekly to show you what we are doing.
This year, we have started a bit differently by allowing the children to drive the car before we dismantle it and teach them to build it. This way, we are making good use of the lighter evenings and will be building during the winter.
Our Sponsors 2024-25
Friday 13th September
On our first week of Aston arrows we found out what Aston Arrows is about and what we will do this year.
This week, we were told how to use tools safely and what they are called. In the same session were split into 5 groups and then we were given tools (Wrench, spanners, nuts and bolts) to use in a challenge. We had to take apart and rebuild a 3D puzzle consisting of different sized blocks of wood screwed together using different size bolts. It was fun!
Charlie P
Friday 20th September 2024
As the journey begins…
This week was our first driving lesson. We watched a PowerPoint about car safety and the previous year’s competitions. Then Mike talked to us about the fundamentals of driving, including how to take a corner. We also learnt a bit about pit stop teams and the jobs that we’ll be doing. We are all so excited for the driving in the next few weeks but there are also plenty of hidden nerves.
This week Group 1 had a go driving our car. Each person attempted five laps around our course. After our drive, we received feedback from previous Aston Arrow students who have given up their free time to come and volunteer. As well as this the groups that were not driving discussed fundraising for the future year of racing. All of us have worked hard this week but we haven’t seen hard yet, I am sure!
Having driven for the first time, we are all elated and feeling anticipation for the coming year. This means we have learnt basic skills such as: how to turn the car on, how to steer, the best way around corners and how to brake!
Soon we will take apart the car and make it our own for the competitions in Curborough and Goodwood in June. .
We all can’t wait for the next year of fun. This is only the start of our legendary journey. It will be GREAT!!! 😊
Friday 27th September 2024
Friday 4th October 2024
Friday 11th October 2024
Friday 18th October 2024
This week we started brainstorming ideas for the design of our car. We settled on a 1920s style car, like the ones that would have raced at the Aston Hill as next year the school will be involved in the 100 year anniversary of the last Aston Hill Climb. We looked at the Aston Martin Green Pea and Cloverleaf as possible designs. Both these cars were designed by Lionel Martin and his company, Aston Martin, which was named after Aston Hill. We decided that our team theme this year had to be this as it is such important local history.
We also raced the car for the second time and everyone improved from their first time of driving. We had a harder track than before. The differences were: a mini slalom, a longer straight and tighter corners.
Dennis- I had a very good time driving. Next time I need to think carefully where the line is.
Lachlan- it was really enjoyable and I felt comfortable driving today.
Freya- you have to listen to the feedback you are given- it makes you drive better and have fun.
Leo- it is really fun. I enjoyed it a lot and I improved my speed. It’s a good experience for the future.
Amelia- my reflexes made the steering dodgy as they are quick and need to be slow for this.
Isla- I was very apprehensive at the start but when I did a good corner, it made me more confident.
Harry- I did much better than I did last time. I trusted myself more as I held down the throttle but my steering still needs a bit of improvement.
Charlie- it was really fun and I enjoyed it because I was learning a lot.
Friday 25th October 2024
Friday 13th December 2024
This week we have been starting to build the basic structure of the car. We split into partners and eight of us went to start the building process, working alongside an adult and following the build manual.
The rest of the team started thinking of sponsors to help us reach our money goals to pay for our year and put money toward the future plans of the club.
Here are some quotes from other children in Aston Arrows:
Isla.R - Seyi and I are writing draft letters to gain more sponsors.
Jack.M - Charlie and I are figuring out which companies could sponsor us so we can gain more money to work with.
Jenson.D – We are building the front of the car.
Freya.R – Were taking out unnecessary bolts to make the seat lighter.
Friday 10th January 2024
This week we have been doing a mix of building, looking at portfolio ideas, practicing the pit stop challenge, researching 1920s racing outfits and fundraising. Here are some of our comments from our team.
Charlie - I enjoy building the car because finding the different pieces and assembling them is fun.
Ethan - It is very challenging to put the wheels on.
Phoebe – Assembling the car is hard since it is very time consuming to screw on the wheels as well as the other part.
Isla - Were working hard on how to design our portfolio and what to put in it so we can make it the best one yet!
Harry - Lachlan, Leo and I are thinking of ideas for fundraising such as a cake stall or raffle.
Maiya and Seyi- This week we have been researching ideas for Aston Hill themed outfits for the parents and children to wear at the racing events.
Zach – This week I have been researching the portfolio for Aston Hill. It has been interesting because I learnt that the average price of an Aston Martin car now is £790,667.
Dennis – It’s a lot of fun building the brakes on the car and quite fascinating to see where everything goes.
Jenson – I enjoyed and found it was easy for me to take off the front wheel but I found the back wheel more challenging.
2023-24 Season
We are now in our second year of this exciting STEM project for our Year 6 children. We were very successful in our first season and already this year, the children are showing so much promise! There is a buzz in the classrooms every Friday after school as the Aston Arrows Racing team meets.
Every week, the children will be writing and posting a blog here to keep friends and family up to date with our progress.
Our Sponsors
We have had a very successful season this year but none of this could have been achieved without the support of our sponsors who have made it possible for us to run the club and get the children to races.
Thank you to our sponsors this year:
Aston Clinton Beer Festival
Dalya
Clearview
Safran
Thanks must also go to Kev Keane for printing our race suits, and Mike Osborn for being our professional photographer at Curborough and allowing us to use his photos.
Race Day Results
Goodwood Race Day - 30th June 2024
This is our final race event and the largest in the country for the Greenpower Goblin cars. It is called 'The Gathering of the Goblins' as cars from all over the country race on this day at Goodwood. The whole day was a fantastic experience for the children and a good family day out.
We competed in the drag race, slalom and sprint. Our Pitstop team went up against other teams and we took part in the lap of the champions - a race around the full circuit (2.4 miles). On top of this, George Quinn a former pupil, also completed a lap for us in the over 12s race.
Once again the children performed better than we could have anticipated and should be very proud of themselves. Even though we did not come home with any trophies on the day, we were placed 8th out of 88 cars overall, with our pitstop team coming 5th and our slalom team coming 6th! This was better than we could have hoped for!
If there was a prize for parental support, we would have won it. Everyone got involved and the track side support was amazing!
Curborough Race day - 6th June 2024
We had a fantastic day at Curborough Sprint track this year. The children (and parents) were all excited, supportive and well behaved! We drove in 6 drag races, 6 slaloms and a sprint race. We won all our heats, but the results were based on the fastest times.
There were nearly 50 other cars present, and out of this tough competition, we came 2nd in the slalom and 3rd overall in the competion! Massive congratulations go to the whole team for such an achievement!
We were very lucky on the day to have Mike Osborn (MikeOzMedia), a professional photographer capturing the day.
Preparation for race days
In the lead up to race days, we continued to drive the car as often as possible, including at half term. The portfolio team worked tirelessly, even in their own lunchtimes, to create a beautiful book that documents our journey this year. We chose a pitstop team, who practised and practised removing all 4 wheels from the car and replacing them in the shortest time possible. They found a technique that suited them as a team and brought their time down from 1minute 30 seconds to under 20 seconds - impressive!
Friday 26th April 2024
Friday April 19th 2024
Driving:
Today at Aston Arrows, the drivers were practising the slalom. It was a hard course as the barriers blocked the drive and we had to steer carefully to avoid them. This was good training for the big races at Curborough and Goodwood. The bronze level drivers and 5 of the silver level drivers had a go today.
“Slalom driving was hard because the bends were tight to get through the barriers.” Jenson
Bodywork team:
Some of the team were cutting out the side panels for the car out of cardboard.The rest of the team finished their possible designs for the final bodywork and then voted on the best design. Now, all we have to do is make it!
Friday 22nd March 2024
Friday 15th March 2024
8th March 2024
This is week 3 of driving on the drag race course. Up first was Charlie B.
Charlie B: ‘It was hard starting out but because of Mike’s advice I found it much easier.
On the fundraising team, Oliver has been looking at paracord bracelets to make and sell on for our fundraising team to get money.
The body work team has been designing the nose panel and they have been making mini car designs that will go towards the idea of what the car will look like.
1st March 2024
In our fundraising team, we have finished our chocolate raffle planning and we were creating posters for the raffle that will go up around school to inform and excite children into buying tickets.
In Bodywork team, they were measuring the car and creating templates for the different panels of the bodywork. Once we have got these, we can start to create the bodywork from cardboard and papier mache to make our chosen design.
This marks the second week of drag race practice. It was the turn of our second racing group and they showed great driving skill.
23rd January 2024
The drag race team have been practising for any drag competitions. They have learnt to drive and push the car at the start of the race. The racetrack was made with blue and white barriers to protect the people from getting hurt. It was Jenson’s first week at Aston Arrows, he was one of the first people to do the drag race. At the end of the track, we have barriers to protect the driver from bashing into the gate. The rest of the group, who had already driven encouraged the drivers. However, at the end of the lesson the car broke down! Lottie, who was in the car when it began to malfunction, showed some excellent driving skills and managed to not crash into anything!
The body work team has been creating mini paper car frames. They have been doing this so we can decide on the best look for our real car. Some look very funny!
19th January 2024
It is January and the Aston Arrows team has made great progress on our car so far. We have already started on our bodywork as well as practicing the pit stop challenge.
Building and Repairing
Unfortunately, the car has been faced with some minor issues in the mechanics of the car. The front axle has a twisted chassis (a part at the bottom of the car). So, our team – Mike, Andy, Isla, Cole, Jacob S and Jack - have made it their job to fix it. Together, they worked on straightening the chassis and fastening a bolt made out of old car to try and straighten the chassis up. They were also applying a smaller washer as the others were too big.
Bodywork
As decided by our team, we are making a penguin car. To make sure we have the most sustainable, endurable and useful materials, our bodywork team has been testing out materials such as PVA glue, paper mâché to find out the most hard wearing and waterproof material in case it rains on one of our racing days.
Portfolio
Our portfolio team have been finishing off quotes for our team. After sadly losing one of our members but gaining a new one, the portfolio team have had to make some changes to our book.
Fundraising
Our fundraising team has been working hard to get more money and sponsors for our team. Letters are being written to individuals and companies to get more sponsorship. Meanwhile, Oliver Pitt has been finding the cost of paracord (lightweight nylon rope) to make into keyrings and bracelets to hopefully earn more money for our team.
12th January 2024
Welcome back! After a well-earned break, we are all working hard to get the car and team race ready!
Fundraising/portfolio
In this lesson, Darcy and Freya were drafting a letter to a local racing driver inviting him in to talk to the team and see what we are doing. Olivia, Izzy and Freya were thinking of fundraising events that we could put on over the next few months to raise money for the project. Erin, Akira, Aimee and Freya were creating a ‘meet the team’ page for the portfolio.
Design
In the computing suite, Charlie, Ben and Lucia were designing the bodywork for our penguin car design while Oliver, Oliver, Arthur and Dylan were looking for possible materials to use to build it. They were looking for recyclable materials so that our car can be as eco- friendly as possible. During the week both classes will be collecting scrap A4 paper to investigate paper mâché as a possible material to use for the bodywork.
Pitstop challenge
Meanwhile Lottie set the new record on the pitstop challenge which is 50.2 seconds which beat our old record by over 30 seconds!
Framework
Mike and Andy have been spending the week thinking how they can attach a new part sent by Greenpower to stop the metal bending as this would cause issues if we do not stop it.
8th December 2023
Today was our last meeting before Christmas, and one that was very important. While Mike and Andy worked with just a few children to complete the rebuild of the framework using the new parts, Joshua (our volunteer from AGS) was teaching groups of children how to complete the pitstop challenge. This will be part of our competition at Goodwood in the summer.
The rest of the club were listening to presentations given by members to win support for their ideas for the car bodywork. They were certainly varied! We decided that the design had to be made from recycled materials and have an environmental message. We heard about a design of a penguin made from recycled cardboad and papier mache, which would have link with a global warming message and the destruction of the ice caps. Then there was 'The dog ate my homework' which would be made out of recycled worksheets. Another design was also made out of recycled materials found in school and would represent a red kite and the story of its reintroduction into the Chilterns. There were also ideas of the four elements or four seasons, Wendover Woods and the importance of trees and even a recycling bin!
Everyone presented very well and there was a fantastic discussion involving the whole club, with some of the designs being discussed and improved. Finally, we had a vote and chose our bodywork design. More of this next term as we start to develop the idea and build it!
