Spring
JAGS share their DT facilities with St Michael and All Angels
On Friday 18th January 2008, Mr Bima brought 15 Year 11 Resistant Materials students from St Michael & All Angels Academy to the JAGS DT department to share the JAGS facilities, specifically our laser cutter. As part of the Southwark Schools Learning Partnership (SSLP), the trip was aimed at helping students from St Michael & All Angels to achieve well in their GCSE projects by using CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacture) facilities at JAGS.
While St Michaels has access to the CAD programmes, the CAM machines like the laser cutter cost many thousands of pounds and are usually out of reach for most schools. The benefit of the laser cutter is the amazing accuracy of the cutting, as well as allowing the students to develop an awareness of how products are manufactured in industry.
Ms Cook, Head of DT at JAGS, spent time showing groups of students how the laser cutter worked and cutting out samples from acrylic plastic for them to take home. While this was happening, Mr Bima was working in the JAGS IT suite with our students, using a CAD programme we use at SMAA, 2D Design Tools. Students created shapes, logos or text which would then be cut out on the laser cutter from acrylic plastic of any colour. These cut shapes will be put onto their GCSE work as evidence of using CAD and CAM, thus ensuring higher achievement in their GCSE grades.
What is exciting about this trip is that it shows how schools can work together and share facilities for the good of all the children in the area. We hope that this is the start of a long and fruitful relationship between JAGS and St Michael & All Angels DT departments, perhaps between other departments too.
Students definitely enjoyed the activities and what was learnt, and everyone had a good time.
Comments from students include:
‘I enjoyed going to JAGS; it was a different environment and the food was nice. Using their facilities was good because we were able to see how their laser cutter works, since we do not have one in our school.’
‘I enjoyed the day, I thought it was great. It was a good experience to use new tools (eg 2D Design Tools Version 2 on the computer) and also using the laser cutter and seeing it in operation.’
‘From going to JAGS I got better at using 2D Design Tools and I got to see how different CAM machines work.’
