West Kent ISSP hosts Soapbox Race

Building on the Tunbridge Wells Soapbox Race which the West Kent ISSP participated in last year, Kent College hosted its own inter-school Soapbox Race in 2023.

Schools designed their Soapboxes based on last year's model and build and raced down a slope in the grounds of Kent College. We also had the addition of Weald of Kent School taking part in the race.

On the day of the race, four of the partner schools plus one school outside of the partnership raced by time trial having four attempts each. The winning time was awarded a prize for as was the fastest average over the four attempts.

Aims

The partnership has been established with the aim of sharing resources and providing high aspirational learning opportunities for pupils.

The projects also enable teachers to extend their professional development, free from curriculum constraints. 

Background

The partnership was established in 2019 after a need was identified by Kent College to share facilities, resources and ideas with other local schools, for staff to network and collaborate with their peers from local schools and to create learning opportunities for high achieving pupils. 

Resources

Teaching staff and non teaching staff supported students with the modifications of the soapboxes as well as transportation of them to Kent College. Heads were present on the day and even participated in a Heads race!

Impact

No formal feedback has been received, however this was a fun event which was enjoyed by all. 

Pupil Involvement

Four of the partner schools were represented at the Soapbox Challenge: Kent College, The Skinners' Kent Academy, Oakley School, The Judd School and we were joined by Weald of Kent School.

The pupils were both male and female and were in Years 9 and 10.

Frequency

We hope this will be an annual event, however this may make up part of a bigger sporting challenge event for 2024 as our theme for the year is the Olympic Games.