STEAM week powers ahead

Last week pupils steamed ahead with a week of events to widen their knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics.

A week of dedicated events across the Prep school helped pupils develop their problem-solving skills through a range of fun tasks.

Over 100 pupils took part in a variety of tasks across the week. Pupils as young as 7 had to find solutions to challenges that encouraged critical thinking and teamwork. Some of the challenges included creating a lighthouse with integrated electrics, constructing a variety of buildings and bridges and coding.

Dawn Thyne, Deputy Head, said: “STEAM week across Key Stage 2 looked like a fabulous and fun way to tackle a wide range of engaging tasks. It was lovely to see our pupils rise to the challenges set by our staff and have the chance to explore higher order skills like critical thinking and problem solving.”

One of the favourite tasks enjoyed by pupils was to create a functional parachute that would help safely guide an egg to the ground after being dropped from the second floor. Elsewhere Year 6 pupils worked through everything from coding a disco to creating a structure out of plasticine that was robust enough to hold a mandarin.

Year 6 pupil, Oliver, said one of his favourite activities was based around engineering. Adding: “We needed to create a suspension bridge for a toy JCB truck to drive over. My team started off with creating a tepee like structure and laying bamboo across it but we soon found that it didn’t work, so we reworked our idea and found ourselves making a grand, freestanding suspension bridge. It was really fun and very thought provoking. I really enjoyed my morning and it was lovely to work alongside my friends.”

STEAM week is the latest in a series of deep dives into areas of the curriculum for pupils at the school. Earlier this term pupils enjoyed art week which celebrated creativity in the classroom and saw pupils create carnival masks and curate a ‘dig for victory’ garden amongst many other activities.

Visit the school’s facebook page to see more images of the week https://www.facebook.com/CundallManor