UKROC 2025 – Meet The Teams – ARChers and ARCana
In the lead up to the National Final we are doing a “Meet The Teams” series. Over to Ampleforth College with Team ARChers and Team ARCana…
Intro
- Team name – ARChers
- School/club – Ampleforth College Rocket Club
- Region/location – North Yorkshire
- Fun fact – This is the third year the rocket club has competed.
- Team name – ARCana
- School/club – Ampleforth College Rocket Club
- Region/location – North Yorkshire
- Fun fact – This is the third year the rocket club has competed.
How did you find out about the competition?
The original ARChers team name has been carried through from year to year as at least one member of the team has stayed on. In 2023 the team discovered UKROC but never made it past the regionals. They were so excited by the competition that they were hassling UKROC for the next year’s mission and rules before it was even issued.
There were two teams in 2024 and the ARChers not only managed to get through to the Nationals but also win at the International event at Farnborough International Airshow.
Only the youngest member of the team, Freddie, remained at school at the start of this academic year but has clearly been learning loads from the older students. This year, with some other friends, he achieved an impressive score of 9.3 at the regional heats. This is the power of the competition, it brings students from different year groups together to learn some impressive engineering knowledge but also the engineering project approaches including simulations, teamwork and iterations (trial and error).
The ARCana team is an interesting bunch of Year 13 students who are all destined to study some form of STEM degree, from Physics to Chemical Engineering. Their enthusiasm for the competition was based on the success of the previous year group and recognition of the value of applying their academic learning to projects as part of their applications to top class universities. They proudly wore their rocket club badges at interview and included references to what they have been learning in the UCAS statements.
Why did your school/club want to get involved in UKROC?
The first club was started to manage the passion of one particular student to launch things around the school site! This included javelin, trebuchets, slingshots and all manner of other quite hazardous devices. The plan was to manage this through a safely organised school sanctioned activity with a suitable staff member (Head of Design and Technology and engineer) overseeing the safety.
What does your teacher/club leader think about UKROC?
As the Head of Design and Technology and engineer at the college all I have to do is give oversight; the students are completely self-managed, self-taught and very independent. I look after the safety, the finances and supervise the weekly activity slot. I can guide them as they CAD nose cones, lay-up carbon fibre fins or 3D print motor casings but have learnt about the rockets and simulators along the way, alongside the students. This has to be the most effective STEM activity I have lead in 30 years of teaching in terms of developing engineering knowledge, skills and approaches.
Want to share your experience? Email us ukroc@adsgroup.org.uk.