Without doubt the noisiest session so far!

Inevitably, given the number of hammers, drills and metal files in use (not to mention the blowtorch roaring away in the corner). And the students appeared to love every minute of it.

Today they made bangles, learning to cut them from copper strips and shape them on a mandrel. They created wonderfully varied, textured finishes, they learned to anneal the copper and to create different colours and finishes, pickling, polishing and filing their bangles to their own individual requirements

But that wasn’t all. Copper disks were also shaped and textured with hammers, different finishes created and holes drilled. Everything was smoothed off with needle files and emery papers and a few initialled their work using stamps. For some these disks will become buttons for the accessories that they go on to create, others have pendants in mind.

All of the students had finished pieces of work to be proud of and a whole raft of new skills!

An important part of this session was the young people planning, delivering and reviewing a ‘skills share’ as part of the Arts Award they are working towards, and this seemed to come very naturally to them. Having decided on the skill they wanted to share and given thought to the equipment, materials, working space and overall approach, they formed pairs and small groups to share what they had learned with each other. The sharings included health and safety guidance, step by step technical instructions, careful demonstrations and opportunities for the recipients to have a go. Once they had gathered feedback from each other on how it went they sat down to consider what they had learned from the process.

Next week the students will be using Photoshop to manipulate the images they have been collecting. These will be used to create the designs for their printed fabric, an exciting step towards the finished articles and a great deal quieter than metal work!