Full ‘STEAM’ Ahead in the Pre-Prep!

In line with the school-wide theme of ‘Future Cities’, the Pre-Prep have been busy investigating the components of a city, building design and town planning. Their task: to collaboratively construct a city, the name of which will be announced in assembly on Friday once all entries have been put forward.

For inspiration, all 49 children, along with their teachers, visited Bekonscot Model Village in Beaconsfield – the oldest model village in the world! This provided a safe environment for the children to meander through walkways and see buildings up close and personal! They were fascinated by the intricate designs of both the interior and exterior of buildings and the incredible attention to detail by highly skilled craftsmen. They even managed to catch a glimpse of the craftsmen at work in their workshop. The children gained a good perspective of the layout of buildings and spaces within a settlement, preparing them perfectly for their task of designing their own city.

Once back at school, each child shared with their class the building that most inspired them, and decided upon a structure that they would most like to contribute towards our collaborative city. The pupils spent the half-term break creating various structures, from Tudor houses and ancient castles to pizzerias, rugby pitches, police stations and party shops! Once back at school, much fun was had inspecting each other’s designs and assembling the city into zones. Each child took great pride in their work and enjoyed justifying their design choices to their peers.

Taking STEAM further, Year 1 & 2 are very much looking forward to taking part in up-coming workshops with visiting architect, Chris Penford, who will lead the children through the design process, and meteorologist, Hannah Cloke, who will explore town planning and flood defence systems.

Great learning for our future generation of city planners!

Tara Blackburn

Pre Prep STEAM Coordinator