DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY PUPILS IN DRAGON’S DEN PROJECT

Repton’s Lower Sixth Design and Technology pupils have taken part in a Dragon’s Den style assessment with their creations of the ‘schoffice’ – a storage and home office solution.

Pupils were challenged at the start of the academic year to create a design marketable to the mass market and pitch their inventions to a panel of judges including academic staff and Repton’s COO Emma Bateman.

Chelsea M (L6G), whose product was described as ‘well thought out and utterly beautiful’ writes about her experience of the project:

“The shoffice project was a great opportunity for pupils in Lower Sixth to showcase their creativity in design and expand our architectural minds. We were tasked with creating a shed office (shoffice) ­- a garden building that combines an office and a shed and is used for work or storage.  The project culminated with pitches our ideas to a board of judges, hoping to convince them to invest in our product.

Firstly, we chose a client. For example, a family who need space for their children to play around, or a couple who want somewhere to relax and unwind. We then began sketching our initial ideas to see what would best fit the needs for our client. The building process then commenced and we were busy considering what materials would be suitable.

To finish our projects we put together a presentation incorporating a client mood board, architectural influences, concept sketches, development, CAD, and a client review. This would all be presented to the judges alongside our models alongside visual elements.

Time had now run out and we all gathered in the 400 Hall foyer, a jumble of nerves waiting for our names to be called out. I was last on the list, and nervous about public speaking, but now it was my time so I gathered my pitch speech and headed to where I would present my final project.

Standing before me were four judges, all sat silently as I introduced myself. After a jittery start I soon gained confidence and was able to engage my audience. I finished to an applause which made me extra confident when answering the panel’s questions. Afterwards I had a great sense of accomplishment and feel as though I have a fantastic head start for our DT journey in Upper Sixth. The project has helped me to further my public speaking skills and gain confidence in situations that might be challenging.”