Design Clubs
Artisan Club
Artisan takes place during lunchtimes in the College Art Department and is available to Lower School pupils. Artisan affords pupils the opportunity to enjoy Art and Design in a broader context than the curriculum, through cross curricular and out of school opportunities. Many of the projects are pupil led and promote team work and independence. Pupils are able to employ and enrich the skills they have learned in their Art and Design lessons and engage in activities such as puppet making, prop design and kite construction. Pupils also have the opportunity to enter local, national and in-school creative competitions for which they can demonstrate their drawing, painting, printing and 3D construction techniques.
Through these activities, pupils gain confidence in the use of materials and processes. This enables them to express themselves creatively and with enthusiastism. This not only helps pupilswithin their own arts process but across all subject boundaries.
During the Lent term of 2006 pupils involved in Artisan worked closely with the Modern Foreign Languages faculty to create a huge lion for Chinese New Year celebrations. In the Lent term of 2007 a number of pupils entered the Superlambanana competition in conjunction with Liverpool’s 2008 Capital of Culture celebration . In the Trinity term of 2009, a number of pupils entered the nationwide ‘Express Yourself’ competition. Two pupils from the group subsequently saw their winning entries published in the ‘School Artists' Portfolio’.
Da Vinci Club
Da Vinci takes place during lunchtime in the Design Technology (DT) Department. It is an opportunity for Lower School pupils to further develop the practical skills aquired in DT lessons and to enjoy aspects of DT that they may not experience through the curriculum. Through both individual and group work, pupils engage in a wide variety of activities, enhancing their understanding of materials and processes. This allows the pupils to express their individual creativity in a more relaxed environment. This confidence and ability stands them in good stead across subject boundaries and feeds back into their wider Design Technology practice.
In Da Vinci Club pupils work with various mediums such as plastic, wood and textiles to design and manufacture interesting products such as mobile phone caddies, puppets and t-shirts.
Greenpower Club
Greenpower is a project which challenges school teams across the country to design, build and race an electric car.
The project gives the pupils an insight into the world of engineering. It also encourages creativity, enthusiasm, team work, cooperation, problem solving, and decision making; invaluable skills for any young person.
St Edward's enters the Formula 24 competition which is for secondary schools. The Year 10 pupils involved in the project are part of the Gifted and Talented cohort, design technology and textiles pupils. The pupils can get involved in the project in three areas filming and media/ car building and textiles
The final race is a 4 hour endurance race. Each school is allowed a maximum of six drivers and six pit crew. The race in 2009 was held at Aintree Motor Circuit which was an amazing experience for our pupils.
St Edwards finished 16th overall, which is an outstanding achievement, as some schools in the competition have been competing and developing their car for ten years. St Edward’s also won the award for the best dressed team.
Knitting Club
'Isn't this an unusual Club to run?' 'Why is it being offered by the Chemistry Department to Upper School pupils?' These may be some of the questions being asked by pupils, staff and parents alike as St Edward's launches this new venture in Advent Term 2009.
Knitting has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity of late; the most style-conscious people have been caught clicking away! Also, we know that for a long time it has been recognised as a very therapeutic pastime. But the real reason that Knitting Club has been launched this year is because it will help develop the level of manual dexterity of pupils and, as such, is an ideal preparation for certain professions such as Dentistry. Admission tutors have long regarded the ability to knit as being indicative of the kind of motor skills essential for the likes of Dentistry. Armed with this knowledge, and knowing it may help our pupils relax in a very stressful period of their lives, it felt appropriate to offer this new activity. It is open to all Upper School pupils (not just Chemists) and we hope it will be a skill they will use in many rewarding ways in life.