Crafting with Creativity and Sustainability

October 3rd 2024

At Alleyn’s, our talented Year 7, 8, and 9 Design & Technology (DT) scholars are breaking boundaries in the Design & Make It club. These young innovators are in welding and precision woodworking—skills typically reserved for older pupils. This term, their project is especially interesting: creating gavels for the upcoming Model United Nations (MUN) conference on Saturday.

Beyond craftsmanship, there is a story behind the materials. The pupils are working exclusively with recycled offcuts - pieces of wood from old lamp bases, disassembled chairs, and remnants from pupil projects as far back as three or four years ago. These salvaged materials have been given a new lease on life, transformed into gavels that will echo through the halls during this weekend’s MUN debates.

Our pupils are upcycling materials and thinking about sustainable design. This project aligns with the aims of the school, which is to create a culture of sustainability, embedding it across the teaching and learning at the school. Over the past three weeks, our Design and Make It club have combined creativity with sustainability to produce something both functional and visually appealing "We’re making something really cool from things that were just lying around," said one Year 9 pupil. "It’s fun to turn old pieces into something useful again."

As the final touches are being applied, it’s clear that these young designers are not just learning how to build; they’re learning how to build a better future - applying innovative thinking to environmental responsibility. Keep an eye out for their handiwork this Saturday at the MUN Conference, where the sound of these hand-crafted gavels will symbolise the power of creativity, skill, and sustainable design.

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