St John’s School—a specialist Engineering College

St John’s Engineering Update

Engineering is ...

Issue 4, April 2007

 Meet The Robinsons—Yr 7 Eco-friendly City of the Future Competition

Þ Rooms 11C (Engineering Suite) and 38 (Graphics Room) are now almost completed.

Þ Successful educational visits to Ford’s European Research Technical Centre at Dunton for Year 8 and 10 students took place in March

Þ 15 Year 9 students took part in the Ballantyne Seminar organized by the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Þ Subject Leaders of the Core Engineering Subjects meet on a regular basis to discuss the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) issues

Þ Mrs. Brewin, Mrs. Wheelhouse (Humanities) and Ms Ashworth (Drama) had a very inspiring meeting about the School’s new production. The plans are that a play that will link Engineering, History and Drama, will be based around the Industrial  Revolution and will be presented next year by Year 9 students. Mrs. Wheelhouse and Ms Ashworth will incorporate the theme into Year 8 and 9 schemes of work to offer the students greater understanding of the engineering and historical issues included in the play they will participate in next year. Watch this space!

Progress since the last Update ...

Engineering Experience at Harper Adams University College

             

From 2nd to 5th April, Kyra Davis, Georgia Halsted and Jay Marshall enjoyed a unique learning experience at Harper Adams University College, Newport, Shropshire. Organised by the Smallpeice Trust, the 4-day residential course provided 100 students the opportunity to learn about Engineering through a series of presentations and practical exercises.

 

Working in teams, they spent two days of the course tackling ‘real—life’ challenges on projects designed and facilitated by young engineers from industry. As well as working on the design, build and test elements of the projects, they developed life skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, time management, finance and presentation.

 

The social programme included a reception and formal dinner at The Royal Airforce Museum, Cosford. The prestigious venue houses one of the largest aviation collections in the UK, and provided the setting for the pupils to meet and present their work to senior industrialists from major companies. These included BOC, Devonport Management Ltd, RAF and Rolls-Royce.

 

Spokesperson Gemma Murphy from the Trust commented, ”This type of experience is designed to give young people a feel of how exciting and rewarding the world of Engineering can be. It is really encouraging to see so many young people showing so much enthusiasm and ingenuity. Jobs in Engineering and Manufacturing are both exciting and well-paid and it is vital for the UK to make sure the stream of talent keeps coming”.

 

 

Will the three Rs of the future no longer be Reading, Writing and Arithmetic but rather reduce, reuse and recycle? What alternative and sustainable ways will there be for creating energy to heat and light our homes and to provide us with clean, fresh drinking water?  Will transport as we know it change beyond all recognition?  How will we dispose of our waste?  Will we have to adapt where and how we live to accommodate rising sea levels?  Will telephones as we know them be confined to museums?

And the winners are…:

  1st prize (London Eye flight) - Rosie Kent, Ben Jordon, Katie Mehew & Joel Marsh

  2nd prize (Science Kits) - Henry Johnson, Leigh-Anne Owers, Bethany Trower, Emma Broadbent & Ruby    

                                         Striker-Goorwitch

  3rd prize for innovative ideas (Electricity kits) - Thuin Zaman, George Warren, Tom Downey & Ben Gallagher

  The winning posters can be admired in the Main Hall on the Yr7 Notice Board.