Strengthening Connections;
Fifty-six Year 5 and 6 children from St Just Primary school visited their main feeder secondary, Cape Cornwall School, as part of their Start Small, Dream Big employer engagement programme. They took part in half-day creative workshops led by Joe Davies, CMA’s Education and Training Development Manager. Delivery at the secondary school, with the support of Careers Lead Mrs Williams and Careers Hub Coordinator Sarah Ableman, gave children an additional opportunity to develop their readiness for transition and created an extra sense of occasion. ‘It’s great to see the children working together in a space that feels grown up and connected to their next chapter,’ Mrs Carew, Year 6 Education Assistant.
Boat Building;
Year 5 attended the morning session in Boat Building and bustled in excitedly. After quick introductions, Joe led with intention, outlining the essential skills he expected children to use to complete their challenge; communication, problem solving and teamwork.
Year 5 learned about boat structure and propulsion systems before Joe set them their task, to design a boat considering structure, buoyancy and aesthetics. ‘I always get them to design before they start working with materials,’ said Joe, ‘it’s important they take the time to discuss and develop their ideas’.
Children were thoroughly immersed in the design and build process – so much so they forgot about break time – and disputes were resolved by a reminder to use their essential skills to work well together.’ Once their build was completed, children were reminded to develop the aesthetics of their boat before the float test. “It was really fun building the boat and testing it out in the water,’ y5 pupil. Testing their boats on water allowed children to get instant feedback, and they confidently made observations and recommendations on their own and others’ designs.
Engineering Towers;
After a clearing of decks, Year 6 arrived for their afternoon session in Engineering. The cohort in attendance are all due to transition into Cape Cornwall school and were pleased to be on the site of their September destination.
Joe again outlined the essential skills the children would need to use before giving them their brief; to build a tower with a minimum specified height and maximum allocation of materials that would withstand a number of external forces! The brief was left intentionally wide to allow children to respond creatively and imaginatively.
It also tapped into children’s prior learning, with a number of groups recalling maths and science knowledge, ‘We’re using a triangle base, I remember learning at school they are the strongest shape’, y6 pupil. Children impressed their teachers with their ability to negotiate and collaborate within their groups. Where needed, Joe offered advice and hints to prompt thinking around potential issues, ‘On seeing any challenges that arose, Joe inspired confidence in the groups – to work as a team, or individually to be resilient, and the end results were so impressive,’ Mrs Harradine, Year 5 Education Assistant.
And just when children thought they were finished, they were given a stretch challenge; to make an adaptation to the tower to accommodate and protect an object. The children loved this final challenge and when testing started they were thrilled to see how their towers fared against external forces; as with the morning workshop, it was a impactful opportunity for children to get an immediate understanding of their successes, suggest ideas for improvement and learn from their peers.