On Wednesday 18 June, young people from across the North East will gather at Morpeth Sports and Leisure Centre for the TechNExt Schools Challenge and we think it’s one of the most important days in the regional calendar.
Now in its third year, the challenge brings together students aged 9-13, including young people from SEND schools and those with additional needs in mainstream settings, for a full day of hands-on, creative activity built around a single powerful theme: Tech for Good. Working in small groups alongside industry professionals, students will develop their own innovative tech-based solution to a real-life problem — moving through interactive stations, refining their ideas and finishing the day with a showcase celebration of everything they’ve created.
For Northumberland’s young people, days like this matter enormously. Technology is shaping every industry in our county. From offshore wind and advanced manufacturing to healthcare and beyond. But for many young people, a career in tech still feels distant or out of reach. The Schools Challenge closes that gap. It puts curious young minds in the same room as the professionals already doing it, and shows them that innovation isn’t something that happens elsewhere. It happens here.
