Parents Open Evening - Technology Department

A group of interested parents were welcomed into the Technology ‘shed’ on a wet and windy January evening, whilst waiting for their offspring to emerge from the Form I/II Charities Party.  With wine in hand we were introduced to the work of the department and in particular to the new inter-departmental collaboration that developed over the past year, which has seen Technology, Business Education and Physics working together to devise and deliver the new PETS (Physics, Economics & Technological Studies) course at Intermediate II level. It’s a far cry from the woodwork classes of our schooldays. 

Having been lulled into a false sense of security by the wine, warmth and enthusiastic presentations, we were ushered into an adjoining room where a sticky challenge awaited – which group could make the tallest freestanding tower out of marshmallows and spaghetti. Convinced of our superior problem solving skills we set to with verve and concentration, only to see our engineering creations wobble and gradually subside as the marshmallows collapsed into gooey blobs.  A winner was found, but with a tower a good 30 cm lower than the winning creation by a group of Form I girls last year, we were somewhat chastened by the experience.

A tour of the department and its facilities followed and the evening ended with the presentation of wine to the tower challenge winners and a cheque for £500 from DAPA to the Technology Department, which will be used to develop an updated Technology Resources Library for the pupils.

We would like to extend our thanks to Dr Deborah Keys (Head of Applied Physics & Engineering) and Mr Ralph Farthing (Head of Technology) for creating such an informative and entertaining evening, and to Mr Geoff Daniel (Deputy Rector) for co-ordinating the event and for providing refreshments on the night.