Schools from Chile,
Brazil, Spain and UK recognised for projects focused
on digital innovation and making a difference in their local
communities.
LONDON, July 2, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- One of the world's leading global schools groups,
Cognita, today announced the six winning schools of its inaugural
Student Challenge. The winning students were from Brazil, Chile, Spain
and the United Kingdom, and were
chosen after regional and global judging by Cognita educators.
Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, this global competition
saw students design innovative projects in the categories of
Digital Innovation and Making a Difference, key components of
Cognita's focus on holistic education. Cognita students of all ages
were able to engage with the student challenge, regardless of
location, curricula, or school type, showcasing the very best of
their creativity and ingenuity.
Dr Simon Camby, Chief Education Officer at Cognita,
said:
"Congratulations to all the winners and participants in the
Student Challenge 2024 competition. The entries were remarkable,
which made it very difficult to decide the winners. It was
fantastic to see students from different countries take part in the
Challenge, and a reminder that no matter where they are in the
world, our schools and pupils are linked by our core values and
commitment to holistic education.
All the entries show the way in which our students can use
their learning to solve real-life, complex problems. Through this
Challenge, students were able to build their agency, adaptability
and positive attitudes, creating a strong foundation to support
their future endeavours."
Three schools won for their digital innovation projects.
1. Students at Colegio Dunalastair Valle Norte, in
Chile, ran digital campaigns to
raise awareness of the needs of residents at a local rural homeless
camp, which is without drinking water and a functioning sewage
system, and has precarious housing. Students collected aid received
as a result of these campaigns to give to the camp residents.
2. Students at Colegio Manquecura Ciudad del Este, also in
Chile, designed and built a radio
telescope using recycled materials and low-cost technology, in an
effort to democratise access to astronomy among high school
students. The students shared the knowledge they gained from the
project at the school's science fair.
3. In the UK, a student at North Bridge House Canonbury
created a programme to help distinguish foxes and cats from other
objects caught on camera, to help efforts to conduct research on
the behaviour and population of these animals in an urban
environment. The programme uses deep machine learning and
principles of machine vision to collect data and plots a graph of
the number of foxes and cats seen on different days.
A further three projects were recognised for their commitment to
making a difference in the students' local communities.
4. Students at Brazil's
Instituto GayLussac worked towards creating computer vision glasses
for the visually impaired. After extensive research and leveraging
machine learning techniques, they developed and implemented a
Computer Vision Model combined with a Raspberry Pi-based system to
create a robust model that can recognise objects, people, animals,
and text.
5. Students from El Limonar International School Murcia in
Spain met with a local supermarket
manager, food bank director, foodbank volunteers and the district
mayor before organising a food collection for a nearby foodbank. To
raise awareness, students created and distributed posters in their
local town and online and kept a record of the food collected. The
project also highlighted the importance of ensuring more
sustainable practices to avoid food waste.
6. Elsewhere in Spain,
students at Mirasur School created a documentary raising awareness
of the delay in starting construction of a new bus stop in a local
neighbourhood, which was due to start in 2000. The documentary
aimed to highlight the importance of public transport institutions
being accountable and committed to providing equitable services to
the local population, including those from vulnerable
backgrounds.
About Cognita Schools
Launched in 2004, Cognita is an extraordinary family of diverse
yet connected schools that span 16 countries and share one common
purpose: to enable students to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.
With over 100 schools in Europe
and the US, the Middle East,
Latin America, and Asia, Cognita employs over 18,000 teaching and
support staff in the care and education of more than 90,000
students. Together, Cognita schools provide a uniquely global
education that goes beyond grades, to develop all-round academic
excellence – equipping young people with the agency, adaptability
and positive attitudes that prepares them to grow, thrive and find
their success in a rapidly evolving world.
www.cognita.com
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