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Tees Valley twins create their own Temenos at twelfth Meteor

Twin brothers Rhys and Liam David joined nearly 500 other primary school children at the University to design and build their own mini Temenos.

The pupils were taking part in the twelfth annual Meteor summer school, launched by the University in 1999 to inspire local primary pupils to think about further and higher education. Meteor offers a series of activities on and off campus and provides an opportunity for pupils to meet and talk to students working on the activities and in schools.

At this year’s school, Mark Hopgood, Project Director for Middlesbrough’s £2.7m, 48m high Temenos, delivered daily presentations about the sculpture to the children, including a time lapse video showing the construction of Temenos. The pupils then worked in teams to design, computer visualise and then finally build their own constructions.

The twin brothers, both aged 11, who took part in this year’s summer school, are both pupils at Saltburn Primary School and move to Huntcliff Secondary School in September.

A really good experience Rhys David said: ‘It’s been a really good experience building our own structures, working with lots of cardboard and using Maths to design. I like the University, it’s really big and we had a good dinner as well.’

Twin brother Liam added: ‘It was good doing constructive work and learning about engineering, I’d like to do that when I’m older. We know the University as our Mum Paula has just finished a Master’s degree in Health & Social Care here.’

Rachel Wills, one of Saltburn Primary School’s Year Six teachers, said: ‘It’s been really good to see the children working in teams and trying to problem solve.

‘The Meteor project is fantastic, it gives the children lots of opportunities that they wouldn’t have had and an experience of University life. They can all see that the University campus is open to everybody and can strive to come here.’

Meteor culminates with a mini-graduation at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Tuesday 20 July, where pupils will cross the stage to receive a certificate from the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Henderson, watched by their families, friends, teachers and VIPs.

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