Students studying the Certificate II in Engineering Pathways at Matthew Flinders Anglican College have had the unique opportunity to build a go-kart in a state-of-the-art facility—an experience that goes beyond what most students have access to in a typical high school environment.
This hands-on project allows them to collaborate and gain real-world engineering skills in design, construction, and manufacturing at an industry level.
Year 11 students designed and built the College’s first ever go-kart to specific criteria and raced it in the 11th Annual Inter School Go-Kart Challenge on Friday, 23 August.
The Go-Kart Challenge was initiated 11 years ago by The Smith Family for “at risk” kids to ignite a love for learning though go-kart design, construction culminating in a race event, judged by industry professionals.
The program has since evolved into a challenging, project-based initiative and continues to attract a range of government and non-government high schools.
Since Term 2, the Year 11 students at Flinders have been working on the design and manufacture of their go-kart entry in the College’s new state-of-the-art Infinity Centre, with its flexible learning spaces, quality resources and equipment.
This project has allowed them to work collaboratively, honing their teamwork skills while problem solving the build.
Students developed their skills in metal fabrication through tasks such as cutting, welding, grinding, assembling and painting. Additionally, the project has given them valuable insights into the mechanics of how the kart functions.
On completion of the Certificate II in Engineering Pathways, students are eligible to undertake the Certificate III in Aviation (Remote Pilot) as a follow-on course, also offered at Flinders.
Ethan W, a Year 11 Engineering student at Flinders helped spark the go-kart opportunity.
Ethan explained, “We were presented with the opportunity to complete a project of our choosing, and since we were interested in engines and mechanics I did some searching online and found a school go-kart racing competition. As a class, we agreed that this was a project we wanted to pursue.”
“The manufacturing process allowed us to practise our fabrication and welding skills as well as gain real-world manufacturing skills and experience,” he said.
“This project allowed us to understand how the hypothetical projects we do at school can become real world solutions applicable to other situations.
Sam H also enjoyed learning design and engineering through the hands-on go-kart project.
“Working on this go-kart has been an insightful and challenging project for the entire team to learn and improve our skills,” Sam said.
“We’ve enjoyed the whole experience, from fabricating a functional frame and assembling a go-kart effectively from scratch, to working as a team with the support of the teachers to delegate jobs, disperse the workload and learn together.
“From the low moments, like stressful hours working tirelessly to finish the kart, to the relief of seeing the kart roll and then run under its power, I'd say we've all learned a lot and are ready for the next set of challenges to be thrown at us."
Flinders Secondary Teacher, Mr Nicholas Shawyer said the students competed well in the Inter School Go-Kart Challenge, representing the College with pride while having fun and learning as a team.
“Year 11 student Will S posted a competitive lap time during the qualifying race, which helped reassure our Flinders team that our go-kart design and build was satisfactory,” Mr Shawyer said.
“Even though the end result was unfortunate and our vehicle experienced mechanical issues, the students still had an enjoyable time.
“Our team learned a lot about the design process in a real-world situation as they had to work together to solve mechanical issues in real time with limited tools and spares in order to get the kart back out and racing on the track.
“We are looking forward to going back next year with a new team and hopefully a second go-kart.”
Student Will S said, "I thoroughly enjoyed the Go-Kart project as part of Engineering. It was fun and challenging, and I gained a lot of experience dealing with the highs and lows from the design project.”
About the Certificate II in Engineering Pathways at Matthew Flinders Anglican College
The Certificate II in Engineering Pathways provides students with an introduction to an engineering or related working environment.
The course is based in the College’s new Infinity Centre, which over three levels features the latest technology and top quality resources, equipment and space to enable enquiry and ideation, collaboration, prototyping and testing, as well as presentation.
In the course, students gain skills and knowledge in a range of engineering and manufacturing tasks which will enhance their entry-level employment prospects for apprenticeships, traineeships or general employment in an engineering-related workplace.
Training and assessment are via a blended mode of delivery which comprises both on-line training and face-to-face classroom-based training at the school workshop.
On completion of the Certificate II in Engineering Pathways, students are eligible to undertake the Certificate III in Aviation (Remote Pilot) as a follow-on course, offered at Flinders.
Students learn the following skills through the Certificate II in Engineering Pathways:
- Apply principles of occupational health and safety
- Use hand tools
- Undertake a basic engineering project
- Interact with computing technology
- Use power tools/hand held operations
- Use electric welding machines
- Organise and communicate information
- Work in a team
- Pull apart and reassemble engineering mechanisms
- Use engineering workshop machines
- Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices
- Develop a career plan for the engineering and manufacturing industry
To learn more about Secondary School at Flinders, visit here.
