Barnwell School (Stevenage): STEM MAJOR AWARD WINNER 2018
Edufunduk are delighted to award Barnwell School in Stevenage £10,000 towards a Laser Cutter, extractor and associated equipment.
In a very strong application, Andy Reavell, Senior Leader, explained how the new cutter would benefit a wide variety of pupils. Firstly, Barnwell's own pupils, (where there are above average numbers of PP students) would make extensive use of the machine through KS3 D+T where it will be based on their middle-school site. The students will be able to see CAD in action first hand, be able to utilize CAM software and gain an understanding of prototyping and one off production. They will be able to actually produce work they have drawn up on the CAD software and take it home and so stimulate their enthusiasm for STEM subjects.
GCSE and A level students will also have access to the new machine of course which will help them excel in their coursework and see their design work quickly brought to life.
A major strength of the bid was the number of primary school students who will also gain a taste of CAD/CAM in action. Barnwell work with up to fifteen local primary schools through the year, including a huge Science/Technology fair attended by hundreds of KS2 pupils (They were short-listed for a TES collaboration award this year). As Andy wrote in his application:
"We have a number of primary schools bringing students in to our school to work in our ICT suites, the ability to produce a product from the work students can quickly create in CAD software would be amazing."
Barnwell are very excited about the difference a high-quality laser cutter on site will make to all levels of students:
"This would also allow our higher ability students to develop a deeper understanding of the CAD/CAM process and would allow our weaker students to produce practical pieces of a high quality despite their own individual difficulties."
We wish Barnwell all the best with their new cutter which will continue to benefit pupils for years to come. We look forward to seeing some of the results next year.