K’NEX Training and Events
Junior Engineers for Britain K'NEX Challenge 2010
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The aim of this challenge is to provide primary school children with an introduction to the exciting world of engineering and technology in a fun and educational way.
Who can enter and when?
The challenge is open to primary schools or organisations teaching school years 4, 5 and 6 or equivalent (approximately pupils aged 8 - 11 years old) in the UK. The initial challenge is normally run for a classroom of approximately 30 pupils and is suitable for children of all abilities. Schools may enter more than one class of pupils. Registrations must be received by 30 April in England and Wales and 31 March in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
What happens next?
If you are the North East you can register for the challenge directly with KRL who are the appointed organisers if your outside the North East here on the website, all expressions of interest will be forwarded to the local deliverer who will contact you to discuss your requirements and arrange a suitable date for the challenge to be run in your school. The local organiser may offer you the opportunity to extend the challenge session into a full educational delivery session, please note the extended service is separate to the challenge and brings with it its own set of costs.Young Engineers does not charge for the challenge.
There are many delivery methods for the challenge such as
- You can borrow the K'NEX kits and run the activity yourself - administration cost is £50 per class of up to 30 students
- You can work with your local secondary school who may be running primary school feeder sessions - administration cost is £50 per class of up to 30 students
- You can work with an organisation or University who are supporting the challenge who will run the challenge for you - administration cost is £50 per class of up to 30 students with a possible volunteer expenses cost.
- KRL can visit your school and run a special activity session lasting at least half a day which will encompass the K'NEX Challenge for one or more classes - costs are dependent on timescale and location
- KRL can run a one day inset session for staff - K'NEX hands on Learning for Tutors. This is an OCN level 2 accredited course which can be delivered for up to 30 staff, volunteers and students over the age of 14 years - costs are dependent on numbers and location
The challenge
The challenge requires the pupils to work in pairs and involves them in building a design solution to a problem that has been set by Young Engineers. The challenge encourages the pupils to develop and demonstrate their problem solving skills, their imagination, creativity and ingenuity as well as early project management skills. The pupils start the challenge by drawing their ideas first and then building their solution, adapting their initial designs as they learn what works and what doesn’t.
The Junior Engineer for Britain K'NEX Challenge has a long and established history with over 53,000 pupils taking part in 2009. A UK National Final will be held in June 2010 and it is expected that over 30 teams will be invited to attend. The selection process from an in school challenge to national final will involve a combination of methods including judging in school to county finals.
K'NEX Courses
K’NEX construction kits are proven to support learning across all key stages and the adult curriculum as well as being great fun.
Karen Routledge is a nationally recognised and highly respected trainer who can deliver training for you and your organisation using K’NEX or Kid K’NEX. She is licensed by the K’NEX User group www.knexusergroup.org.uk to deliver accredited and non-accredited training, family learning events and sessions in schools, Out of Hours Learning (Study Support) and other education, youth and adult settings.
Activities
| Target Audience | Type of Session | Length of Sessions |
Dads Groups
Family Learning
Gifted and Talented
Key Stage 1 and 2
Special Needs Pupils |
Kid K'NEX Building Simple Robots Kid K'NEX Cars Kid K'NEX Circuses Kid K'NEX Fimble Comes to Stay Kid K'NEX Mini beasts Kid K'NEX Olympic Games Kid K'NEX Playgrounds Kid K'NEX Star Wars Kid K'NEX Wacky Races K'NEX Bridge Building K'NEX Boats and Planes K'NEX Cars and Construction K'NEX Circuses K'NEX Fimble Comes to Stay K'NEX Medieval Technology K'NEX Mini beasts K'NEX Olympic Games K'NEX Playgrounds K'NEX Space or Star Wars K'NEX Wacky Races |
Courses can be run for: 90 minutes Two Hours Three Hours Half days Full days A set of weekly sessions A Holiday or Summer School. |
| Key Stage 3 and 4 | K'botics K'NEX Bridge Building K'NEX Engineering K'NEX Medieval Technology K'NEX Mini beasts K'NEX Olympic Games K'NEX Robot Workshops K'NEX Space K'NEX Wacky Races Young People Interactive Sessions K'NEX Technology OCN Level 1 K'NEX Numeracy OCN Level 1 K'NEX Science OCN Level 1 |
Courses can be run for: 90 minutes Two Hours Three Hours Half days Full days A set of weekly sessions A Holiday or Summer School. |
| Tutor Training | Getting Started with K'NEX and Kid K'NEX Using Kid K'NEX with 3 - 7 year olds K'NEX in children's clubs and childcare schemes Building Bridges with K'NEX Building Machines with K'NEX Developing Numeracy skills with K'NEX Developing IT Skills with K'NEX K'NEX Enineering Day Setting Challenges with K'NEX K'NEX Family Learning Day Workshops (60 - 90 minutes) |
Courses can be run for: 90 minutes Two Hours Three Hours Half days Full days |
| Accreditated Tutor Training | K'NEX Hands on Numeracy and Science OCN Level 2 Kid K'NEX Hands on Numeracy and Science OCN Level 2 K'NEX Hands on Learning for Tutors OCN Level 2 K'NEX Hands on Learning for Bridge Building OCN Level 2 |
Full day |
Buying and Using K’NEX
The K’NEX User Group is a not for profit organisation promoting the educational use of K’NEX and Kid K’NEX. Their website www.knexusergroup.org.uk contains free K’NEX resources and downloadable challenges. Their online shop sells low cost K’NEX kits and parts. Looking to buy K'NEX or kid K'NEX please visit http://karenroutledge.co.uk/Shops.htm or download an order form from here.
What Others Say About K’NEX Courses:
“Extremely informative – one of the best courses I’ve been on.”
“Brilliant! Recommend it for all CSAS. Every school should have this course for all staff, all subjects.”
“The presentations give so many ideas on the use of K’NEX, its applications and the practical elements add fun to the experience.”
“It gave so many ideas of how to use the equipment and how sessions can be structured so that students get the most from using it. “
“Working as a team, solving challenges, practical hands on experience of using K’NEX gave a sense of achievement.”
“It showed how you could use K’NEX within different settings within the curriculum.”
“Understanding how K’NEX can be used for Numeracy/Science/Technology was the most useful part of the day. It opened my mind regarding the actual use of K’NEX.”
“The practical activities - getting some hands on experience of the kit was excellent.”