Drive to succeed: Inverness High School engineering pupils breathe new life into broken old go-kart before taking to track at Inverness Kart Raceway; project received financial boost from Highland Council and Morrison's Construction
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DEDICATED pupils at an Inverness secondary school found themselves on the right track after embarking on an ambitious engineering project.
Their year-long efforts have transformed an old, broken down go-kart into a sleek working machine which they have now tested on a city race track.
The engineering students at Inverness High School carried out the venture with the help and advice of Inverness Kart Raceway and school technician Douglas Campbell.
The pupils also worked on the project in their spare time and learned new skills in welding, mechanics and frame-building.
The project received financial help from Highland Council’s ward discretionary fund and Morrison’s Construction.
Head teacher John Rutter said building the go-kart had been an incredible project for pupils.
“They have learnt many new skills – not least of which was what it is like to work as a team and the need to persevere when things don’t go your way – and they have produced a truly wonderful machine,” he said.
“Under Douglas’s guidance and enthusiasm, they have given a huge amount of time and effort over to getting all the mechanics just right.
“As we all know, getting young people into school can be a real battle in the morning, but having them turn up willingly in their holidays and at weekends just shows how keen they have been to engage with the project.”
Mr Rutter said there had been a huge amount of support from the local community including funding from an unknown donor and racing kit donated by pupil support assistant Martin MacLennan, as well as support from Inverness Kart Raceway and Morrison’s Construction.
“Developing these connections with local employers has had huge benefits for the pupils involved and we are hoping that we can continue to work with the Kart Raceway on developing further projects to help the young people of Inverness,” Mr Rutter said.
“Seeing the enthusiasm of the pupils involved has been the best thing for me – they have been fantastic and it has been a real thrill to see them power the finished product around the raceway.
“Watching them trying to control the kart on a wet and slippery surface was also very, very funny!”
