IT was a battle of brains and technology when pupils from West Somerset College, and Danesfield, Dulverton and Minehead Middle Schools competed at the Rotary Club STEM Tournament.

The Year 8 and 9 students had to design, build and test a model of a flood resistant home.

Students were inspired on the day by the presence of several engineers from the Rotary Club of Minehead and the Quantocks, led by Rodger Andrews.

Each group made a prototype of their own design.

The fourth annual tournament was organised by Simon Rossiter, curriculum team leader for design technology at the college and Rebecca Yates, a science teacher.

The aim was to raise the importance of the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) in the curriculum.

A team from the college won the event, with a creative solution to the problem and a good presentation and team work skills.

As well as being entered for the tournament on Friday, all entries will go on to be submitted to the national competition, run by the Practical Association.

Mr Rossiter said: “This was a really good opportunity for the four schools to work together.

“We were pleased to be joined by students from Dulverton for the first time this year, and would like to see the tournament go from strength to strength in the future.

“The schools would like to thank everyone from the Rotary Club for their support and also Pete Deakin, DT technician at the College, for his help in preparing for the day.”