Eggs, bamboo & jelly babies - it can only be the D & T Show!
Year 10 students from Ash Manor School - a specialist Technology College, spent two days building towers with just bamboo sticks and jelly babies on the James Dyson Foundation stand at D+T with ICT Education Show from Thursday 15th - Saturday 17th November 2007! The objective was to see who could build the tallest structure able to support a hard-boiled egg!
Helen Cole, James Dyson Foundation Executive said 'The project was initially open to seven students from Ash Manor School on Thursday and Friday, with the highest tower at 78 cm built by Hester Bennett, Ellen Fenton, and Jonathan Bentir-Davies. On Friday afternoon and Saturday we had a lot of interest from other visitors at the show including PGCE students, primary school pupils and families. Architect Mark built the tallest tower overall at 130 cm!'
There were many other practical, hands-on projects at the D+T with ICT Education Show, all designed to inspire pupils and teachers and to excite the imagination, making learning fun! An interactive exhibit at the stand of Enginuity, the National Centre for Design and Technology, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, involved staff encouraging visitors to construct a motorised speedboat and design a bridge to take the load of a moving truck.
Nev Waugh, Head of Technology Faculty at Rye Hills School, Redcar, North Yorkshire was left feeling extremely positive as he won £200 to spend at the show and a case of wine through a school prize draw. Nev said 'I was delighted when I learned I had won the prize, it came as a very pleasant surprise. I have used the voucher with Ellisons to purchase a range of dies for a die cutting machine, which we purchased at last year's show.'
When asked how he felt about the show in general, Nev said 'I have visited the show every year since I started teaching, since the days when it was held at Wembley and Harrogate - in total over twenty years. I feel the D+T show is important because it gives us the opportunity to see what is available on the market, to gain an up to date knowledge of current practice in an ever-changing subject area, to meet with colleagues and share ideas - and bag the occasional freebie!'
The wide range of seminars proved to be extremely popular, with visitor figures increased from last year. Colin Whitfield, Educational Consultant said 'I was very pleased with the attendance for the seminars as the numbers attending have risen 30%! Mick Waters, Director of Curriculum at QCA gave a very lively, entertaining and informative talk about the place of D&T in the curriculum of the future, even though he was jetlagged as he'd only just arrived back from Australia!'
The feedback visitors gave about the seminars was very encouraging. Colin said 'Teachers don't get much support or training from the LEA these days, so they come to the D+T show to get a good quality of service and to be educated. I got some very positive feedback from those people I spoke to, including teachers who made a special trip into the organiser's office to say how much they loved the show and how pleased they were with the talks.'
A Textile display from schools across Northamptonshire took centre stage at the show with an inspiring variation of work from different levels ranging from KS1 to A level. Year 9 students from Wollaston School created 'one-off' bags, encouraging them to take their own bag shopping rather than accepting plastic bags from stores. They used the sublimation printing technique to generate original fabrics and a laser cutter to create components. KS1 students from Millbrook Infant School produced felt panel and finger puppets and an 'eco-friendly' dress was produced at GCSE level by Campion School.
Exhibitors at the 30th D+T with ICT Education show had a very successful show and visitors left feeling educated and inspired. The show will return to NEC, Birmingham next year from Thursday 20th - Saturday 22nd November 2008, with a fresh programme of seminars, more interactive exhibits and all of the latest supplies for this dynamic subject.
