UFA
Summer School 2005
In the first week of the summer holidays, thirty Year 5 and 6 pupils from five primary schools in the Knowle area, took part in an exciting and enjoyable University of the First Age summer school, organised by the Architecture Centre, Bristol and the Archimedia Project at Knowle West Media Centre.
The week-long summer school, named the ’Grand Designs Challenge’, involved pupils in a hands-on design challenge with support from local professional architects and designers. At the start of the week, Miles Ford, Project Manager for the Archimedia Project Manager of the Knowle West Media Centre, challenged the pupils to design a new environmentally-friendly Knowle West Media Centre building and grounds, giving them the subsequent days, working in teams to achieve it and present their finished models and designs.
To gain an understanding of some of the issues involved in designing buildings, pupils built paper structures, visited the CREATE Centre eco-home, explored the use of trees and space in landscaping, and even ate chocolate ‘bricks’ to test the properties of insulation by comparing it to Crunchie bars, in a special presentation by lecturers from the University of the West of England.
Several local young photographers from the Knowle West Media Centre documented the week, and five young people from the local area, who are part of the Archimedia core group, acted as trained peer mentors for the younger pupils. It was a great opportunity for all the young people to develop their creative and team work skills and self confidence.
The
peer tutors attend various local secondary schools and the summer school
helped contribute to a smoother transition to Key Stage 3 for the Year
6 pupils involved. The summer school took place at the Knowle West Health
Park, and also involved a ferry tour of the Bristol harbour, and a visit
to St Thomas’ Church and the Architecture Centre.
The pupils developed some imaginative and thoughtful model designs, which were exhibited at Architecture Centre during November 2005.
All the attending pupils gained Youth Challenge Awards, a nationally recognised form of accreditation, which they can add to their record of achievement, when they start at secondary school.
University of the First Age summer schools have been successfully run across Bristol for the last 3 years and are co-ordinated by the Bristol Education Centre, part of Bristol City Council.
The Architecture Centre would like to thank the following people for helping to make this event a success:
Sandra Manson – Youth Media Worker, Archimedia Project, KWMC
Miles Ford – Project Manager, Archimedia Project, KWMC
Tim Burgess – Architect, Alec French Architects
Scott Farlow – Landscape Architect, Reckless Orchard
Tony Selman – Lecturer, Faculty of the Built Environment, UWE
Zoe Rusby – Structural Engineer, Arup
Toby Murphy – Structural Engineer, Integral
Kerry Froom – Project Worker, KWMC
Linda Oliver, Project Officer, Churches Conservation Trust
To find out more about the Archimedia Project visit: www.archimedia.org.uk
If you would like more information on the ‘Grand Designs’ summer school, please contact our Education Officer, Amy Harrison on 0117 9221540.