STUDENTS from schools in Thornbury and Alveston have showcased their work made in a partnership with a lens manufacturer.

Groups of boys from The Castle School and Marlwood School were presented with their work and certificates at a celebratory event held at Essilor in Thornbury.

The 14-year-olds spent half a day a week, over the course of six weeks, working with experts and technician from the company’s laboratory on the Thornbury industrial estate to design and produce a telescope, microscope, spyglass, handmade specs and a focimeter.

Essilor MD Mike Kirkley was joined by Thornbury mayor Cllr Helen Harrison to present the pupils with the certificates and models in front of a crowd of parents and teachers.

Mr Kirkley said: “We have an opportunity to support the schools to help ensure every child reaches their potential and help provide a window to employment showing the students that skills taught have a practical use later in their lives.

“Working with the Castle School and now Marlwood, we have a fantastic opportunity to help make a difference to these young and talented individuals.

“We hope they have also learnt about the importance of teamwork, effective communication and problem-solving. Bringing together these skills, they have designed and built these wonderful precision instruments, which we are very pleased to hand over to the schools today.”

Essilor’s head of quality Pete Dodd added: “The presentation day was all about these talented young people, about what they’ve done and how they have grown through developing their communication and teamwork skills.

“Working with them is so inspiring. They do 80 per cent of the design and production work themselves. With the telescope, they work on a paper tube, then a plastic tube and then the final stainless steel telescope.”

Castle School geography teacher Garry Atterton said: “Working with Essilor teams at their laboratory is both inspirational and aspirational for these boys. They found it so exciting. They developed a co-operative approach and problem-solving skills along the way and came out with a sustainable product.

“The partnership is a real success story. It embraces Essilor, the schools, parents and the community. The parents are so proud of their boys.”