Learning through Making

The ability to use tools, machines, materials and processes in the real world is what enables learning to occur. It’s not simply imagined where anything is possible and where thoughts are difficult to validate for the real world. Understanding is built on applied knowledge gained through experiencing real materials, tools and a suite of digital programs. The power of rhetoric is also used by students when reflecting on the activities and processes they have applied and this allows deep discovery. Learning occurs as students develop:

• Spatial reasoning - the ability to work with three dimensional objects builds their ability to see three dimensional objects in their mind.

• Spatial awareness - the context of working with peers and complex equipment in an active environment.

• The use of fine motor skills - the repetition of applied action using tools and equipment.

• Their ability to apply maths and science when quantifying for solving problems, measuring and marking out component parts.

• Graphic communication - to document and produce creative solutions for projects and for problems that they encounter.

• The ability to focus their attention - to design workflows and manage their time, order the operations, sequence and monitor their actions to produce quality work.

Darren Woodrow Head of Design & Technology