BUILDING for their future - year five and year six pupils of Laurel Avenue Community Primary School, Durham have been discovering that engineering may be for them, when they were visited by the Neighbourhood Engineering Project.

The visit arranged by Durham business and education executive, excited the year six pupils who knew just what was in store for them, having joined in the project last summer.

The project, which was slightly different to last year's theme of bridges, encourages children to work together as part of a team and makes them think about the design and construction of structures all around them.

First, the children worked as part of a production line to make and construct a Millennium Dome-like greenhouse from - wait for it - paper rods.

Paper, nuts and bolts were all the materials available and armed with a piece of dowling and a hole punch, the children set to work building their structures.

During construction the children were asked to think about quality control as the structures were to be tested for their strength.

As the groups finished their tasks they lined up nervously, ready to hand their greenhouses over to Mr Hazleton to be tested.

The groups, who had all given themselves names, such as The Red Devils and Bob's Builders, had to stand by and watch kilogram weights being hung from the inside of the greenhouses.

Unbelievably, as each group passed the two kilogram task mark, weights were added and, as the structures began to collapse after six or seven kilograms, one clear winner with 11 kilos was left.

Laurel Avenue Engineers, the winning group, were very pleased and said afterwards it was all down to their high standard of quality control and described how many rods had had to be thrown away.

Class Five then all came together as each group produced small square-based pyramid structures, which were joined together to make their miniature London Eye.

Mr and Mrs Hazleton praised the children for their careful work and their enthusiasm, while the children themselves have begun to think about careers in engineering.

You never know, perhaps they could be the builders of the future