KIDS TODAY - When I was young!

[Guest]

Better than that though alan, It would be OK with ken livingston if you bought a HUMMER to central london fitted with 2AA batteries and a 3volt motor!

"Its a Hybrid"

Euan

[Guest]

Well I know that its now called resistant materials and food technology. I also for drawing with rulers and compasses is now called graphics. That was when i was a secondary school.

[Guest]

Hi Char, would you like to reprint or rephrase the type of School you

went to? :grinball2: SEXONDARY, INDEED! :smile11:

Sorry, not. could not help it.

[Guest]

was funnyNo what i meant was SECONDARY SCHOOL I attend Chalvedon School and sixth form college.

[Guest]

its sad, we run classes here at legoland that are specifically designed to fit in with the national carriculum, key stages 1 ,2 and 3

so when schools run school trip kids can actually do some hands on ' creating'

these are structured sessions which inlcude things such as structures, gear ratios, friction and similar ' basic' values,

the lego company sell techinc sets as they have done for years, in my childhood there were two types of grey technic connector pegs, one had two snap fittings- one either end, the other had a snap fit on one end and a cross profile on the other end..... we as kids never had problems 25 yrs ago working out which was which, we looked at the instructions or used our common sense.......

nowadays these two pegs are now produced in different colours because research showed that kids of today can't tell the difference- or they are so bored they cant be bothered to observe the instructions correctly....

we are dumbing down everything !- i think metal work and wood work should be re- introduced in school, CDT as it was know should be re- instated, its sad but when we recruit for staff we have highly skilled people turn up who can programme complex CNC machines, can produce intricate parts in 3D on a screen - but but they cant change a chuck on a lathe from a 3 jaw to a 4 jaw !- they could not turn or mill a basic part to a tollerence of 0.1mm without the use of CAD/ CAM technology- for gods sake engineering is a dying art, we need to teach the advanced technologies and CAD/ CAM but we also need to teach the basics, simple machining and turning, basic fabrication and similar, - education should not just teach youngsters to pass an exam - we should try and teach the very basics of what these youngsters need for life in the big nasty world out there !

i think teachers now have one hell of a challenge to turn round this opressive, league table obsessed, world !- let teachers teach,let the kids learn- rather than constantly test, check and assess - let em get on with the job in hand- its what they do best, we were not constantly league tested, we have exams each year and the odd test and we gained our exams and went on to higher education ok !

[Guest]

I think one area of education that is really failing kids is the practical general education they are missing out on at Primary school - kids are taught all they need to pass national curriculum CAT tests (Cognitive Ability Test) and come to secondary schools without the ability to use a compass and measure for example.

At Secondary School we're prescribed the national curriculum which covers a wide range of areas, none of in much detail to be of any real use, because kids have to play catchup because missing out on key skills from Primary School they are set back even further.

Saying all that though the way kids are wrapped in cotton wool these days it's suprising the government even allows them to step foot in a workshop! Afterall we can't go exposing kids to dangerous things like blackboards and chalk dust, and have to use machine washable, low odour, dry wipe felt tip boardmarkers (Although we are still allowed to use bullet and chisel point markers - those are safe apparently!)

[wonwinglo]

Bring back the men of steel...

This is really making for depressing reading,just imagine the inventors and scientists of yesteryear worrying about cutting themselves or spilling abnoxious liquid over the work area ? what we need today are those men of iron and steel who could fashion things from raw natural materials with great gusto,little wonder that this country ( the UK at least ) is in the state that it is in ! once a nation capable of making great bridges,railways,carriages,aeroplanes with designers who knew what they were doing,now we are lucky if someone knows how to use a 12 inch rule,a micrometer,make saw cuts,bash out aluminium forms from sheets of soft alloy,make proper joints etc etc,little wonder that Guy cannot get the staff he needs at Legoland ? the whole system needs a proper overhaul,I could go on and on but it is so depressing to think that today despite the high technology presented before us we have landed up in this way.

I feel so lucky that I can enter my tiny shed workshop,and use that valuable knowledge instilled in me many years ago to make satisfying scale models from scrap and raw materials.

The nanny state is biting hard,this silly health and safety thing has gone too far,if you bang your finger nail with an hammer it goes bloody red and boy does it hurt ! if you touch hot metal it burns you,but one thing is for sure and that is you never do it again ?

Let common sense prevail,bring back woodwork and metalwork and bookbinding,and lets nurture real engineers again.

[Guest]

One of the projects we carry out at school is to produce an item which could be sold in the gift shop of a museum.

To prevent arguments we give the kids a choice of subject, to design a bubble pack for one of the following:

1) Fossilized wood (not many takers for this one...??)

2) Replica historic coins (they are like coins but you can't spend them in a shop...yes not many takers here...)

3) WWII reproduction Nazi SS Death's Head ceramonial Bayonette...(Sharp stabby things with skulls and eagles on the handle...a very popular project!)

....On second thoughts the prospect of getting 26 year 10 kids to run around the workshop with reproduction Nazi weaponary was probably not the sharpest (pardon the pun) idea!

We did make a RTV Silicone mould for the handle and cast a few in pewter which came out rather nicely!

Next week...how to make your own assault rifle using basic workshop tools...**joke**

[Guest]

back in my last years at school before heading off to be endentured I made a Harpers ferry flintlock pistol combining wood work and metal work for the CSE or what ever it was called. The only thing i wasnt allowed to do was bore the touch hole, a problem fast corrected once the pistol was home.

many years later i shot the pistol at Bisley with no problems and a patched lead ball hitting the 25 yard target.

My old metal work teacher was a good guy firm of hand and foul of mouth but learnt a lot from him. Than k you Mr Ellis

Kevin

[Guest]

Did any of the other students make flintlocks? You could have challenged them to a duel!

:knight:

[Guest]

not in my year but the year before a lad made the frame and lock for a Navy colt.