PUPILS from a school in Thornbury have worked together with a car showroom to build a racing go kart.

Seven students from The Castle School were selected by Berkeley Vale Motors in Alveston to take part in the project after an intensive selection process, which saw them writing letters to the director before delivering a presentation.

The group of boys from year nine worked with their engineers every fortnight for five months to learn about engines, how a go kart is built and ultimately to design and race their own kart.

The project, which was enabled by the Premium Partners scheme, was also showcased at the Partners’ business forum in May for businesses and parents to find out more.

As part of the testing process, a “hot dog” design kart was even raced at the Tetbury Whacky Races on the May bank holiday, and, while it wasn’t able to place, it showed how much the boys had learned – despite some of the parts flying off mid race.

Ross Goodridge, one of the boys who took part in the project, said: “Working with Berkeley Vale Motors has really been a useful experience. I can put this project on my CV and am now considering a future in engineering.”

The project was concluded with the go kart being fitted with a light engine and was driven around the school field, after which the boys were presented with certificates from Thornbury mayor Cllr Helen Harrison.

Cllr Harrison said: “It is really encouraging to see different elements of the community working together so creatively in this way.”