Our Specialism and Partnerships

At The Petchey Academy, we offer an innovative and dynamic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program that aims to inspire and prepare our students for the exciting challenges of the modern world. Our STEM program integrates hands-on learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills to cultivate the next generation of innovators, problem solvers, and leaders.

STEM education is accessed both through the curriculum and as part of the extracurricular offer. We run a continuous programme of STEM related events across the year aimed at developing students' skills in these areas whilst also inspiring them with the wide range of career opportunities that they can open up. Many of the activities on our STEM programme also give students the chance to collaborate with their peers in teams creating business ideas and project plans, essential skills for later in life.

Examples of activities which are open to students are: the biorobotics programme run in conjunction with UCL; the First Lego League open to students in KS3; The Faraday Challenge a national competition for Y8 students; The J.P Morgan schools challenge for students in Y9; The First tech challenge, a robotics competition for students in Y10 and above, along with a variety of opportunities including guest speakers, trips and competitions designed to further enhance students' understanding of STEM and expose them to real-world applications. 

The school is honoured to have the opportunity to collaborate with a number of high profile organisations to promote STEM and STEM engagement to a wider audience. Examples include the development of a promotional video with the Science Museum and developing projects in partnership with UCL and the Ogden Trust. We also have a long term partnership with Bloomberg which allows students access to mentoring programmes and other opportunities. 

Our work with the City and Hackney NHS trust gives students who are interested in applying to medicine the opportunity to complete work experience in a GP surgery and take part in training with junior doctors. 

Students interested in studying engineering, computer science and sciences are encouraged to take advantage of links with UCL and can pursue work experience or access to programmes designed to support them in applying to university. 

The STEM team is continuously on the lookout for opportunities to give our students new and exciting opportunities. The list below shows examples of projects from this and previous years. 

  • Engineering Escape Room

  • Mission to Mars

  • I’m an Engineer Get me out of Here

  • First Robotics Challenge

  • Ogden trust Partnership

  • Science Festival

  • Faraday Challenge

  • J.P.Morgan Schools Challenge

  • Science week 2023

  • Biorobotics 2022

  • Jump, Slither, Crawl

Petchey Robotics

The robotics team is split into two sections, Lego Robotics for KS3 students and Tech Challenge for KS4 and KS5 students. Both groups take part in the First UK competitions to design and build and compete their robots, alongside other challenges. This year the senior team experienced particular success with the team winning a prize at the South East regional competition and qualifying for the national championships in June. 

As part of their programme, members of the senior robotics team act as mentors to the Lego League team, supporting them to develop their skills in programming and designing as well as supporting them to work collaboratively to achieve their goals.