Just how cool is this lifelike Stig!

Date published: 20 October 2015


Radclyffe School has parked a cool character in its design and technology department to showcase an interactive attraction.

The Stig, from hit BBC show “Top Gear”, is now keeping watch over the school’s own Cool Wall. The life-size mannequin is intended to get pupils at the Hunt Lane, Chadderton school talking about how products are developed.

Each term staff choose a different topic and place images on the wall of a variety of models. Pupils can then judge how cool they think the products are, moving the images around between “uncool”, “cool” or “sub-zero” categories — just like cars were previously judged on Top Gear.

Products the students have judged include cars, mobile phones, football boots, cameras, televisions and DVD players.

Design and technology teacher Graeme Munro said: “We wanted to introduce the Cool Wall to new students and encourage everyone to think about design and how products evolve over time. The Stig is proving a popular addition.”

It took artist Javed Saddique more than 60 hours to create the Stig sculpture with Styrofoam, before painting the figure to an uncannily life-size likeness.

He said: “Students showed a lot of interest in the sculpture as it was being developed, saying they want to do a sculpture too and how great they think it is. It has made them realise the potential of design and technology.”