Young Engineers Prepare for British Science Week

Budding engineers from Rupert House, Henley, were on the Park on Thursday 29th February polishing up their scientific skills in advance of British Science Week 2024. The Year 5s were bursting with pride as they managed to get their LEGO cars to climb a slope using iterative design and an understanding of gear ratios to perfect their vehicles.

The workshop was one of a series of DT and Engineering Workshops that the department has been offering to Year 5 and Year 7 students from local schools as part of our outreach programme. The participants spend the first part of the session creating their LEGO cars by following instructions provided so that everyone starts with the same basic model. After some time in the classroom with our DT and Engineering teachers, Mark and Jeff, it’s back into the workshop to see how the different modifications might be implemented and to test their success. The pupils have all loved getting stuck into the challenge which focusses on loading, gears and forces.

Hannah Clough, Rupert House’s Head of English, accompanied the group observing, “The faces of awe and wonder were a sight to behold! They really got the hang of redesigning and a lot of them got over their fear of failure to continue to modify their ideas. It’s great for the children to go to different schools and extend their learning of DT.” Year 5 pupil Isla agreed: “It was really funny and interesting because I learnt things I didn’t know.” Cecily, whose loyalties were split between the workshop and the school’s restaurant, enthused “It is amazing!!! And the food is so good!” whereas for Sophia the best part was “testing the buggies for the first time. It’s an amazing thing to do and you learn lots of fun things!”