PRIMARY schoolchildren were inspired by engineers, scientists and a poet to come up with their own designs for cities of the future.

The week of activities at Tutshill Church of England Primary School developed out of an offer by parent Anthea Gair to talk to the children about her work as engineer on the electrification of the Bristol to Cardiff railway line.

That initial idea was expanded to coincide with National Science Week and the children’s imaginations were fired by professionals from 20 organisations.

Teacher Amanda Cooper, who led the project for the school, said: “The children are absolutely buzzing, they have enjoyed it immensely.

“It was wonderful to have the opportunity to work with a range of professionals who gave their time and enthusiasm to inspire the children.

“All the work was closely tied into our school values.”

All 240 pupils from Reception to Year Six were involved, with each year group creating its own city.

The school has had support from a range of local and international organisations including: Bechtel, Arup, Intellectual Property Office, Craddys, Hanley Farm, Kerry Foods, Artura Design and Engineering, Imagination Technologies, Porterbrook Trains, Watergen, Green Edge and the school’s Parent Teacher Association.

Headteacher Jennifer Lane said: “Approximately 50 per cent of the volunteers were women, which helps the pupils to see engineering related work as open to all.

“The idea of the week was to give the pupils the chance to explore aspects of cities such as who lives in and use cities, sustainability, buildings, water, food, waste, energy, industry, how to make them healthy and fun to live in.

“The week has been inspired by Dream Big – a film showcasing the importance and excitement of engineering.

Ms Gair said: “We dropped in a whole ton of subjects which made them think in a very rounded way.

“The questions were open-ended, so there were no wrong answers.

“If they wanted to include things that don’t exist yet, they could because this is about the future.

“It’s also been brilliant to see the way in which all the teaching staff have embraced this.”