Mount and BE Design Project 

As part of the T4N Business initiative, we have joined forces with BE Design.  They are a forward thinking Architecture, Civil and Structural Engineering design consultancy who are based at Fernwood Business Park in Balderton (http://www.bedesign.co.uk/). 

Below are details of a project that the Year 5 and 6 children have been involved with during the Autumn term last year.

The Mount CAD Project.

BE Design, the Architecture, Civil and Structural Engineering design consultancy based at Fernwood, was pleased to be partnered with the Mount School in the centre of Newark.

Carole & Tom from BE Design went into the school and introduced the year 5/6 children to what BE Design does and the roles of Architects and Engineers within society. Engaging with them created lively discussion and raised awareness across the class. As the children and the designers got to know each other, we quickly realised that apart from every child’s interest in technology, all children have an amazing creative side and LOVE a challenge.

Coincidentally, the National Curriculum promotes the use of design and technology to solve practical and creative problems, so working with the teachers we decided to make the most of this and introduce the children to the use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and set them a design challenge.

The pupils were split into pairs and given a brief to design a leisure facility, no larger than their school field (c.100x100m), that had separate 2 storey support building. The children were encouraged to be as imaginative as they liked and to draw it out on paper before starting to create it using SketchUp design software. They could let their imagination run wild, fitting it out with the leisure options of their choice. These included pools, gyms, restaurants, spas, climbing walls and far far more.

As well as being on hand to provide advice at the launch of the project, BE Design visited during the design challenge period. The Children also had a dedicated email address to be able to connect BE Design’s team, who could provide design and technical advice to both the pupils and the teachers.

BE Design received some amazing designs and will present the school with a bound book of their creations to mark their endeavours. The winner will be chosen by the team at BE Design’s office, and presented with a 3D printed model of their design.

Feedback from Mr Terry and Mrs Cobb:

This has been a fantastic learning opportunity for the children in our Year 5/6 Unit. The combination of everyday computer skills such as locating files, navigating a system and saving documents to a specific folder along with the bespoke skills needed for the SketchUp programme we used have benefitted them greatly in their computing development.

This project has also been a great opportunity to build resilience in the children as not everything was plain sailing. SketchUp proved a difficult programme to understand meaning the children struggled to translate their fantastic and elaborate designs in the way they had intended. This said, it meant they were challenged to solve these problems themselves and find ways to make their designs appear on screen. As a result of this, the children became increasingly familiar with the programme and their confidence grew as the weeks went by.

Overall, the children have thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and frequently asked whether it was time for BE Design during the school week. Some children even used their own time at lunch or playtime to get out a laptop and carry on with their work. It’s been an interesting and practical experience that with future development would be a useful addition to the primary computing curriculum.

We have all enjoyed this so much we have already arranged to do it all over again in the Autumn of 2018.

TYCOON IN SCHOOLS 2017 COMPETITION

3RD IN THE COUNTRY!!!

Well, the competition finished after 7 frantic weeks on 15th December and we had to wait until the New Year before everyone had entered their Sales data to find out how we had performed.  The leaderboard shows that we came 3rd in the profit stakes...this is a national competition so we came 3rd in the country when it came to making money!!  Absolutely fantastic news for the school and for Newark.  The Newark Advertiser have visited us to interview our Tycoons and they are publishing our story on Thursday 18th January 2018.  We are now biting our nails while waiting to see if we will be invited to Buckingham Palace in the spring where the top schools compete against one another for the overall Business Tycoon award - it's not just about how much profit the schools make but all the other aspects of running a business.  Keep your fingers...and toes...crossed that we receive our invitation!!

We have entered a national competition called 'Tycoon in Schools' which has been created and funded by Peter Jones of 'Dragon's Den' fame and requires KS2 children to set up and run a business that will trade during the Autumn 2 school term.

Last year we ran a green screen photographic business that was very successful, especially with Christmas themed presents.  This year, we asked all children in the school for ideas about what our business should be.  There were lots and lots of ideas but a theme running through it was pets.  We decided to make healthy handmade treats for dogs, cats and rabbits and agreed on the name 'Paws for thought...'  Our Business Tycoons come from year 5 and 6 and include Kaylin, Kyian and Arnas who were Business Tycoons last year and then Cooper, Simon, Weronika, Cameron and Jlya joined them to make up our team for this year.  As well as pet treats, Jlya came up with the idea of making pet themed handmade soaps so owners could treat themselves too.

We hope to make as much money as possible so that we are in with a good chance of going to Buckingham Palace in the spring to collect the 'Tycoon in Schools' award...that would be mind blowing!!  So, we are asking as many people as possible to support us and buy some of our treats. 

You can get an order form from reception or send us an email to pawsforthought@mount.notts.sch.uk.  We will also be selling treats every Friday evening outside Mrs Kent's office.

Please help us achieve our dream of winning the competition this year!!