On Thursday 25th January, we welcomed a group of fourteen Year 5 students from Rupert House School to Leighton Park, to participate in a DT & Engineering Workshop. Meanwhile, our Art and Textiles teacher, Deborah Ince, travelled to Rupert House in Henley-on-Thames to teach a Batik workshop to the remaining Year 5 cohort.
At Leighton Park, guided by the expertise of DT teacher, Jeff Fuller and Head of DT & Engineering, Mark Smith, the students immersed themselves in the creative process of constructing and modifying LEGO cars. The challenge? Manoeuvring their creations up an adjustable ramp, providing a dynamic gradient for our budding engineers to conquer.
The young visitors from Henley paired up and chose a team name, before embarking on the task of constructing their vehicles and mastering the initial drive. After the guidance of a tutorial on gears and ratios, the classmates embraced iterative design, gradually enhancing their Lego vehicles with additional pieces and modifications to achieve the best hill-climbing model.
The workshop concluded with a delightful lunch at Oakview restaurant, where the children savoured the food, observed a moment of Quakerly silence, and experienced the intriguing moving tray collector.
Frances Harris, Rupert House teacher, who accompanied the group commented, “It was excellent. Children loved being hands on and being in a bigger and exciting environment”
Back at Rupert House the Batik workshop was equally successful with Nicki Poulter, Art teacher, describing the experience as “Amazingly brilliant!”. Charlotte (Year 5) thought the workshop was “Fabulous” explaining that “My favourite part of the Batik Workshop was creating my own design and it was so fun! I learned that wax stinks when melted.” Fellow student, Kam was just as enthusiastic exclaiming, “It was the best thing ever!”. “It was amazing and I would definitely do it again.” added Isla. “I had lots of fun!” concluded Molly.
To see how much fun the two groups had please see our photo albums for DT & Engineering and for the Batik Workshop.
Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Maths (STEAM) education is a real strength of a Leighton Park education and we were pleased to combine the problem-solving logic of science, DT and engineering with the creativity of a batik workshop for pupils at Rupert House. In February the experience will be repeated with the two groups switching over to complete their STEAM education double event!
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