Local school scoops £1,000 with futuristic creation

Whist it may appear that ‘Pokemon Go’ is taking over the world, youngsters at Orton Wistow Primary School have created their very own futuristic friends that are set to challenge the latest craze.

Recently, local business Mick George Ltd in its drive to educate children on recycling, set youngsters in schools throughout its operating areas of Peterborough, Cambridge, Northampton and Boston the task of producing a ‘Recycle.Bot’ out of recyclable materials. They were asked to provide a name for their Robot and also details of any superpowers it posses to help the environment. After an overwhelming response, which saw in excess of 300 applications the eventual winner for Peterborough was ‘Ria the Recycling Robot’ which was created by Ria and Alistair, of Orton Wistow Primary School. Ria’s special powers included a necklace of flies that eat fruit rubbish, and another function that recycled plastic in to t-shirts’

The winning school wins £1,000 and a Meccano Programmable Robot (worth over £100), with the pupils involved in producing the Robot each taking home a Playmobil Recycling Truck, and a trip for their entire class to attend the launch of Mick George’s new Recycling Plant at St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, to see exactly what happens to their waste.

Laura Potter, Orton Wistow Primary School said: ‘’ The children really enjoyed the competition. It was great for them to have a focus for their recycling activities. It really made them think about the different items that can be recycled and what they can be used for. We are delighted with the cheque which will be used for further environmental activities as part of our commitment to being an ‘Eco school’ while the gifts will be used in Key Stage Two to help the children develop their programming skills.’’

The initiative was aimed at providing youngsters with a better understanding of the impact that waste has on the environment, encouraging them to reduce, re-use and recycle for a greener future.