An all expenses trip to Abu Dhabi is at stake on Wednesday when a team of girls from the Dania primary school on Northampton Road travel to the final of a Formula 1 design competition.

Islington Gazette: The girls at the regional final of the competitionThe girls at the regional final of the competition (Image: Archant)

The girls, all aged between eight and ten, have been tasked with designing the fastest model Formula 1 car, and on Wednesday will take their design to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry to compete against 29 other teams in front of an expert panel of judges.

Hosted by Jaguar and Land Rover, the competition asks the team to design a car, get sponsorship, create uniforms and give a presentation on their work.

And the team from the Dania school, a small bilingual school based on the Scandinavian model of teaching, have already seen off competition from a host of other schools to win the regional finals. They are the only all-girl team in the final, as well as being the youngest and the only bilingual team, and have picked up awards for best presentation and best pit stop along the way

“They’ve done amazing to get as far as they have,” says head teacher Sandy Mathewson.

“And especially being a bilingual school, winning the English presentation category was pretty incredible.”

The team of Maya, Kamille, Emma, Ella, Mille and Josephine is divided up into roles, with two engineers, two graphic designers, one head of sponsorship and one team manager.

And the girls, who talk in depth about the technical issues surrounding their design, say the experience has really helped them to learn more about working in a team.

“It’s brought our friendship together and it’s been really creative,” says eight-year-old Mille Curran.

“Before I couldn’t do anything with a partner!”

This is something which Emma Laura Busch, nine, agrees with, telling the Gazette “our team work is much better than it was before,” since they started in the competition.

The girls will be travelling up to Coventry together in their Viking uniforms on Tuesday, with the competition taking place the following day.

To find out more about the competition and what it entails, visit http://www.f1inschools.co.uk/jaguar-primary-school-challenge/