Last week we welcomed former student Harrison back to Carr Hill High School to meet up with his technology teacher and Faculty Leader Mrs Dandy and Headteacher Mr Waller, to celebrate his success in gaining an extremely prestigious scholarship award. Harry has been awarded an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship, which is the most prestigious of its type in the UK. Its purpose is to inspire and nurture school-age students to be the country’s future leaders of the Engineering Profession. The Scholarships are awarded to high-calibre 16 year old students through a rigorous selection process and supports students through the two years of their A levels, Scottish Advanced Highers or equivalent qualifications. More information can be found on their website - https://www.arkwright.org.uk/
In early 2020, whilst Harrison was a Year 11 student, he was nominated by Carr Hill for the Arkwright Engineering Scholarship. Harrison was, and still is, a gifted student with a long-standing enthusiasm and interest in engineering. He is extremely dedicated to his studies and was determined to do his best to secure the scholarship.
Mrs Dandy wrote about Harrison, “He went above and beyond by practicing past papers and fine tuning his application, all on top of his usual school commitments of coursework, revision and PPE’s. In October we were delighted to hear he had been successful in securing the scholarship. Harrison has personally thanked Mr Waller and me for supporting him to achieve this goal and he is delighted. His achievement is even more impressive because in 2020, due to the COVID pandemic, fewer companies were sponsoring Arkwright students… I am extremely proud of Harrison and his achievements, and I am sure he will be very successful in his future engineering career.”
There is a financial incentive with the scholarship, as Harrison receives £600 to support him through the next two years of his studies and Carr Hill receives £200 to spend on equipment/materials. Arkwright will pair Harrison with a professional engineer to act as a mentor, and he will have exclusive access to events run by Arkwright partner companies to give him greater insight into different areas of engineering and academia.
Harrison should have received his award at an extremely prestigious event at the Engineering Institute in London. Attending with his family members, he would have been part of a large celebration with guest speakers and the other successful candidates, enjoying a night of appreciation and success. The current pandemic means this wasn’t able to go ahead, but we took this opportunity to welcome Harrison and his Dad back to school to celebrate his success in receiving the scholarship. Mrs Dandy and Harrison enjoyed conversations about the new 3D printer installed in the classroom, and the software that students are now enjoying learning to use from Year 9 upwards. Harrison enjoyed talking about previous projects, overcoming frustrations when things don’t go quite to plan and upgrading his projects when able with new technology. His Dad explained that Harrison is able to create things with such speed that he is often blown away by his ideas and use of technology.
Neither Harrison nor his Dad had heard of the Arkwright Scholarship before Mrs Dandy discussed it with them, and they said it certainly wouldn’t have happened without her support. This was the first time that Mrs Dandy had considered putting a student forward and it was very close to the deadline so the application form and report writing had to be completed very quickly. With lots of information and detail needed, but a strict word limit, Mrs Dandy said it was a challenge to get this right. The next stage was to complete the exam, set under national exam conditions, to test the candidates ability to apply their knowledge to develop real world solutions. Harrison’s advice to anyone who may sit the exam in the future is, “Choose the question you want to answer really carefully. Don’t pick a hard option which you will struggle to explain in detail, pick something you know, that you can show how to get it to work. Don’t worry how neat your drawings are, or how good it looks, just make sure you get your idea concept written down in detail. That’s what is most important.” This exam took place during Year 11 Mock exams within school, which have their own stresses and commitments, but Harry was determined to do his best. Harrison’s Dad explained that he had done lots of practice papers, there are many available and they proved very useful. “All you can do is just go for it” was his advice to Harry and others who may be considering applying.
The next stage of the process would have been an interview, to talk about a project you have undertaken and the plans you have for your engineering career. When the interview was not able to go ahead, Harry was disappointed as he would have relished the chance to prove himself. He accepts that the situation was beyond his control and resigned himself to ‘what will be, will be’.
It was during October that Harrison received an email with the result and was so happy to find out that he was successful. He has since found out that half the places were lost due to reduced sponsors, which makes it all the more fantastic and rewarding to have achieved this. Mrs Dandy was so sorry that Harry missed out on the awards ceremony in London, as she feels that is a fitting celebration for something as prestigious as this scholarship. It’s not quite the same to be invited into school for a socially distanced visit and photo, but it was so lovely to have the chance to catch up properly.
Lockdown proved a big challenge for a naturally busy person, so Harry kept himself entertained with a technical Lego set building a Porsche, which he had planned to work on slowly and then had it built in record time. He also found a solution to a mask valve, he had bought the mask and decided he didn’t like the valve on it, so designed his own. As a child he was always taking things apart and putting them back together again, or designing something and building from scratch. He also has projects he enjoys completing with his Dad, as they share similar interests and hobbies. Mrs Dandy was keen to add, “Lockdown hasn’t dampened your goals or your drive. You have kept doing what you do.” Harrison has been able to see the positives from this year and not let any restrictions stop his continued hard work and determination.
Harrison is currently studying A-Level Maths, Physics, Further Maths and Computer Science at Cardinal Newman College, Preston. He is in college part time, and completes some of the course via remote learning. He has found the courses good, with only a slight frustration at having to self-isolate for 14 days whilst friends were still able to attend college as normal. He is thoroughly enjoying the Computer Science course, finding the teacher very inspiring and engaging, and Harrison plans to use the Arkwright money to fund a project within this subject. He is thinking of exploring robotics, and investing in circuit boards and tools to help him succeed with this. He is hoping that through the Arkwright’s Scholarship he will find a mentor knowledgeable in this area too. He’s also signed up to continue with his Duke of Edinburgh Award, now working towards Gold.
Harrison’s plans for the future include possible apprenticeships within motorsports engineering, ideally at McLaren or similar, or studying further at University. He is interested in CAD (Computer Aided Design) and would eventually like to work for a Formula 1 team, within engineering. Harry is a determined and very hard working young man, with an eye for detail and perseverance, it’s clear that he is destined for big things in his future.
The Carr Hill community are very proud of Harrison and all he has achieved so far, and we all wish him all the very best for a wonderful future, keep in touch Harry!
Harrison - Arkwright Scholarship
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