Tech (metal and wood work)
“May my soul bloom in love for all existence”.
Primary School Hard Craft
Hands-on crafting by using natural materials is a holistic way to bond with nature. It nurtures respectful interactions with the environment and one another. Crafting is also a powerful medium for developing attributes that are associated with resilience. Perseverance and the ability to problem solve acquired through hand work are easily transferable to other subjects. Crafting forms an integral part of each child’s journey at Willunga Waldorf School.
Basic Woodwork informally starts in Class 2 as short lunchtime sessions where children are introduced to handsaws, hand drills, hammers, and sandpaper, mainly making play structures and simple toys.
In Class 3 Hard Craft is formally incorporated into the Curriculum as part of Weekly Activities, where children further experiment with a variety of mediums including, wood, fibre, leather, and other natural materials. Class 3 program is oriented towards exploring the immediate environment and harvesting resources. Hatchet work and whittling form the basis of the skill set for this age group.
Hard Craft formally starts in Class 4 where children further develop their hand tools skills. Main projects for this year include shield, sword and dagger making as well as basic blacksmithing. As children move into Class 5, the projects they engage in, require more patience and attention to detail. Boatmaking is a perfect example – children have to shape a hull out of a log by only using saws, gouges and rasps. It is their first introduction to both concave and convex shapes. Finer work follows as they start building cabins, making masts and rigging. Class 6 takes a deeper look into concave shapes by gouging wooden spoons and other utensils. Projects related to Roman engineering are also explored.
Class 7 deepens their understanding of inward shapes by making a bowl, later moving onto creating a convex shape – a wooden ball. In the second half of the year, Class 7 discovers basic mechanics – they design, sketch, and make wooden moving toys. During this process, they are gradually introduced to basic power tools, thus preparing them for high school.
Throughout the whole crafting program, comradeship, teamwork and respectful relationship with the environment and one another are strongly emphasised and practiced. Inevitably, crafting creates a medium through which children can get to know and understand others.
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