Mount pupils meet design brief

Pupils at a primary school developed their design skills in a partnership with a company based at Fernwood.

BE Design, a firm of architects, civil and structural engineers, was enlisted by Mount Church of England Primary School, Newark, as part of efforts to show pupils the different types of businesses and industries in the area.

Years five and six were challenged to design a building 100m square.

After drawing a pencil sketch, they used a 3D modelling computer programme called SketchUp.

"They were able to design the outside and put different things in each room," said teacher Mrs Victoria Cobb.

The winner was nine-year-old Isaac Williams, whose design was sent to the University of Lincoln to be created into a model via a 3D printer.

He said: "I thought it (the challenge) was good because you could design whatever you wanted."

Carole Tomlinson (marketing manager) and Mr Tom Shiels (senior engineering BIM coordinator) of BE Designs, presented Isaac with the model.

The Mount is part of the Together For Newark (TFN) family of schools.

Mrs Dawn Kelly, business ambassador for TFN and a teacher at Mount, said: "Activities like this are about getting children to understand why they are learning and what happens in the real world.

"The pupils have been very motivated. They have been brilliant because what they were given was a proper, professional brief, and their creativity has been fantastic.

"When they looked at the designs some of the architects were amazed that they had come from children.

"The pupils are starting to realise why they are having to do things at school. They can see that there is a purpose."