Over 300 school pupils from across North Derbyshire tested their skills during an action packed challenge event at Chesterfield College.

Eleven local secondary schools took part in the challenge, which saw 365 pupils competing in 21 challenges at the College’s Chesterfield and Clowne campuses.
Teams from each school competed in a series of workshops, from Hair and Beauty, Textiles and Media, to Construction, Sport, Catering and Childcare, with prizes awarded to the winning teams in each area. The Army Recruitment Office organised a climbing wall challenge and assault course while staff from Apple Media delivered a workshop using state-of-the-art creative software.



Joshua Skeldon from Springwell School said, “The media workshop was quite easy to follow once we understood how the software works. I would be really interested in doing it again.”

Pupils on the Hair and Beauty challenge created a themed wedding concept for hair, nails and wedding invitations, using styling mannequins and false nails.

Perese Haye from Bolsover School commented, “The Hair and Beauty challenge has been really different to anything I’ve done before, and I’ve enjoyed it, but it has helped me to realise it’s not something I could do as a career. It’s too fiddly for me!”

Nikita Taylor from Netherthorpe School, who took part in the Textiles challenge added, “We had to make our own felt from scratch, then design and construct a wall hanging based on the elements. It was really intensive, but it is definitely something I would consider studying after school!”

The Schools’ Challenge, which was attended by John Queening from the Derbyshire Education Business Partnership and Councillor Ann Weston, was part of a range of events run by Chesterfield College to enable young people from local primary and secondary school to experience vocational training in a range of areas.