I have taught Technical Education at Ardrossan Academy in Scotland for twenty years.
I am fortunate to be a teacher of Technical education as it is a subject which can build the self-confidence and self esteem of all pupils, perhaps especially, the less able pupils.
Often, I am teaching pupils who have personal, family and/or school problems. Technical Education can be a subject to be looked forward to by less able pupils.
It can be a subject that can excite, stimulate and motivate when little else in school interests them.
Ten months ago I started building a Technical Department website.
It was my intention to make this site different from the usual school website. Pupil centered, fun, exciting with individual photographs of the pupils and their work.
As a scale model aficionado I have tried to motivate my pupils by sharing my enthusiasm for this subject with them. Built from scratch, the enthusiasm of these 14-15 year olds when making these models was something to behold.
This I think shows that scale model building can be just as enthralling and exciting for today’s youngsters as it has for generations past. Some of these pupils are termed challenging in today’s parlance, however the different builds consumed their attention and their behavior was superb.
The year 2 scratch built Red Baron was also a huge success. Difficult to bring in a Scottish link here. However, see alternative history of Ardrossan Academy page on site.
One can tell from the looks on the pupil’s faces on the new website that they are very proud of the work they have produced. It has to be remembered that these youngsters would rather suffer a death of a thousand cuts than be photographed and shown on a website doing something which they consider ‘uncool’.
I have tried where possible, to relate the pupils work to the Clyde area, or to Scotland in terms of design, history, technology and manufacture. This, I believe makes the work much more relevant and significant to them.
In year 3 we limbered up with a pirate ship. The connection to Scotland was that the famous pirate Captain Kidd was born here in Dundee.
We then tackled the legendary HMS Hood in year 4. The great ship was built only a few miles up the Clyde coast from the school. They say pictures are worth a thousand words. The beaming smiles of these young people with their finished work show the effect that scale model building can have.
I would very much appreciate and be very interested in, any comments on the site and the pupil’s work from the people at the peak of the scale modeling world. I would of course pass on your comments to the pupils. They would be thrilled to here from you.
One can find the site at http://www.ardtech.co.uk
Kind regards,
John Anderson
I am fortunate to be a teacher of Technical education as it is a subject which can build the self-confidence and self esteem of all pupils, perhaps especially, the less able pupils.
Often, I am teaching pupils who have personal, family and/or school problems. Technical Education can be a subject to be looked forward to by less able pupils.
It can be a subject that can excite, stimulate and motivate when little else in school interests them.
Ten months ago I started building a Technical Department website.
It was my intention to make this site different from the usual school website. Pupil centered, fun, exciting with individual photographs of the pupils and their work.
As a scale model aficionado I have tried to motivate my pupils by sharing my enthusiasm for this subject with them. Built from scratch, the enthusiasm of these 14-15 year olds when making these models was something to behold.
This I think shows that scale model building can be just as enthralling and exciting for today’s youngsters as it has for generations past. Some of these pupils are termed challenging in today’s parlance, however the different builds consumed their attention and their behavior was superb.
The year 2 scratch built Red Baron was also a huge success. Difficult to bring in a Scottish link here. However, see alternative history of Ardrossan Academy page on site.
One can tell from the looks on the pupil’s faces on the new website that they are very proud of the work they have produced. It has to be remembered that these youngsters would rather suffer a death of a thousand cuts than be photographed and shown on a website doing something which they consider ‘uncool’.
I have tried where possible, to relate the pupils work to the Clyde area, or to Scotland in terms of design, history, technology and manufacture. This, I believe makes the work much more relevant and significant to them.
In year 3 we limbered up with a pirate ship. The connection to Scotland was that the famous pirate Captain Kidd was born here in Dundee.
We then tackled the legendary HMS Hood in year 4. The great ship was built only a few miles up the Clyde coast from the school. They say pictures are worth a thousand words. The beaming smiles of these young people with their finished work show the effect that scale model building can have.
I would very much appreciate and be very interested in, any comments on the site and the pupil’s work from the people at the peak of the scale modeling world. I would of course pass on your comments to the pupils. They would be thrilled to here from you.
One can find the site at http://www.ardtech.co.uk
Kind regards,
John Anderson
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