Prep School STEM Week
Friday 22 March 2024 | By Megan ConnorThe children in the Prep School enjoyed the return of our annual STEM Week. This year we followed the theme of ‘Time’, set to coincide with British Science Week. Children from EYFS to Year 6 experienced a wide variety of different activities around the theme and the smiling faces on the photographs demonstrate how much they enjoyed these moments of awe and wonder.
In EYFS, our youngest children kicked off the week learning about dinosaurs and learning some impressive vocabulary such as extinct, herbivore, carnivore and palaeontologist. They created some colourful dinosaur pictures using a host of different 2D shapes which will certainly brighten up their classrooms. They also explored shadows by making their own shadow makers and learnt about constellations, creating their own constellation pictures by experimenting with different shapes and patterns. The end of the week saw the children considering time zones and creating some super pictures to show how when one side of the world is sleeping, the other side is awake.
Pre-Prep children had lots of fun exploring evolution and designing new ways for humans to survive. These ideas ranged from extra eyes to stretchy arms so that we can reach objects and pull us to safety! The children enjoyed using thermometers to measure the temperatures of different hot drinks and observing the effects of different types of cups on the temperatures over time. The week progressed by looking into metamorphosis, with a particular focus on the life cycle of a frog. Towards the end of the week, the children considered their amazing brains and the connections that occur within the brain to help us learn new things. The children were let down by the typical British weather and despite making some lovely sundials, were unable to test them due to our cloudy skies!
The children in Lower Prep enjoyed welcoming visitors from The Links Primary School for a time capsule-themed primary liaison event. The children engaged in a hands-on workshop that embraced their creativity, problem solving and innovation skills. They had the opportunity to brainstorm, sketch and design their own futuristic inventions, from incredible gadgets to ground-breaking solutions to everyday challenges. These inventions were then all bundled up into a time capsule for both schools to be buried in their school grounds. The children also loved taking part in a jelly experiment and making biodegradable plastic in the Food and Nutrition kitchen.
Upper Prep welcomed Isaac Bamfield, a civil engineer and Senior Project Manager for AtkinsRealis. Our older children and AG&T pupils were able to find out about his work, his opportunities of working abroad with Qatar Rail, the possible routes into this career and the personal skills required for this field. Upper Prep also welcomed children from Junction Farm
Primary School to take part in a ‘Stem-o-saurus’ dinosaur themed primary liaison event. The children created scaled footprints of different dinosaurs before measuring their stride length and calculating their leg length, height and moving speed. These children also had the opportunity to make their own water clocks as well as preparing entries for the Leaders Engineering Award; a national competition to present designs to provide solutions for everyday problems.
These activities are by no means exhaustive but provide an overview of how the children spent STEM Week 2024!
Mrs Kennedy
