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Extra-curricular
activities in design and technology |
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School:
Uplands Junior School, Wolverhampton |
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Fellow: Carolyn Bryan |
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Email: cbryan@uplands.biblio.net |
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Aims of the project: |
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The aim of the project is to
support teachers and other adults wishing
organise an after school technology club by
providing them with general advice and a bank
of resources as a starting point. The project
is specifically aimed at teachers who have
enthusiasm but perhaps need ideas to get going.
The project fits in with the Excellence and
Enjoyment initiative, part of the Primary
Strategy and has particular relevance to extending
schools to support children’s learning.
I have formed close links with Young Engineers
Clubs, an organisation that supports a network
of science, technology and engineering clubs
around the country. I have been a club leader
for over 6 years and felt that some of the
activities that my children have found enjoyable
and successful could be shared with other
clubs.
I have planned to produce a pack of activities,
which would include problem-solving challenges,
student handouts with instructions and suggestions
of useful resources and teacher notes including
health and safety issues. |
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Work so far: |
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As I want to target prospective club leaders
that may have little expertise but plenty
of enthusiasm, I have suggested activities
that are simple to follow, that will need
the minimum of equipment but could easily
be developed further.
I have planned three main areas, one for each
term, based on rockets, transport and flight.
I started with rockets and space because I
recently visited the Kennedy Space Centre
with a group of colleagues from Wolverhampton
and received an insight into the vast range
of materials accessible through NASA. All
NASA materials are copyright free as long
as they are not used for profit. However their
teacher booklets can sometime be a bit heavy;
picking out the best bits and adapting them
was an easy starting point.
Within each area of the pack I have included
a ‘fact file’ to get the pupils
interested and ‘understanding the basics’
section giving background information, explaining
why things happen and with suggestions of
where to look to find out more. These sections
are intended for either pupil or teacher use
and are linked to appropriate websites for
further information. The next section comprises
a series of activities to be completed in
a club session of approximately 1 hour.
I have trialled the activities with the pupils
in my own club and have passed them onto other
interested teachers. The general feedback
so far has been very positive. |
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I met with staff from the Young
Engineers organisation to discuss how my project
will fit in with their aims and with their
provision for junior clubs.
Several of my ideas to encourage more junior
clubs have already been put into place although
they need further development; I have also
been able to advise on writing a handbook
for club leaders.
At the D&T show in Birmingham in November,
I assisted the Young Engineers on their stand
and was able to talk with visiting teachers
about the work I was doing and find out what
they wanted in terms of supporting them with
activities. I was able to make some contacts
with teachers who were willing to try out
the ideas I had already written up. The D&T
show was also an opportunity for Young Engineers
to launch their new website which will become
live in March. The website will have an activity
section which is something new. The activities
I have already completed will form part of
this section.
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The questions I have now are: |
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What is the best way to present the
format of my materials?
Although each activity can be used individually,
my intention was that they form part of a
wider themed project, showing progression
from very simple activities to more challenging
ones as confidence and expertise grows. I
think the background knowledge section is
important, so this needs to be linked clearly
to the activities to help pupil’s understanding
and also to enable teacher’s explanations.
I have also spent a long time drawing diagrams
to illustrate the activities; there may be
a quicker way of producing material of an
equal quality. |
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How can I make these activities
available to the widest audience?
The Young Engineers organisation is obviously
the best way to get these materials seen immediately,
but I also want to reach other technology
based clubs in schools, or other organisations
who could access them. Some club leaders have
agreed to try out the activities but these
are clubs that are already running successfully,
I now need to find teachers that are considering
starting a club or have just started and would
welcome the ideas. |
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Keeping costs down?
I have tried to keep costs down when planning
the activities, as I am aware of the small
budgets many Primary D&T coordinators
have. Asking schools to put extra funds into
club activities could be difficult for some.
I hope I have shown that some exciting activities
to be undertaken without costing the earth;
most can be completed using recyclable materials.
I am also including some fund raising ideas
which I have used with my own club and which
have enabled me to purchase equipment. |
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Next Steps |
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Respond to any feedback from
the materials written so far.
Develop challenges that involve the pupils
working in teams – part of this involves
developing some of the past challenges set
by Young Engineers. As these challenges were
originally set as competitions, they give
the simplest of ideas on where to start, challenging
the students to research further and propose
a solution to a specific problem. I would
like to make them more accessible by suggesting
activities to complement them and putting
the problem into a more general context that
would be relevant to a wider audience. |
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When I originally started a club in my school
I had very little subject knowledge but plenty
of enthusiasm so I allowed the children to
lead the way. From small beginnings of extending
the projects in the D&T curriculum, the
enthusiasm of the pupils led us onto entering
local and national competitions, appearing
on television in robotic challenges and eventually
becoming the Junior Club of the Year. These
are all experiences I know will never be forgotten
by the young people who took part, many of
who have continued their interests in Technology
and Engineering through secondary school.
I hope that through this project other teachers
will be able to encourage more young people
into these subject areas. |
