The James Kane Foundation has made a significant donation to Cedar Lodge Special School this year to support the purchase of a Growforge Pro, a CNC Laser, giving pupils greater access to practical manufacturing and STEM activities.
The new equipment will help pupils with moderate to severe learning difficulties and associated conditions, including ASD and ADHD, to turn ideas they have designed using ICT into physical products.
For many pupils, traditional hand tools can be difficult to use due to challenges such as low muscle tone and poor coordination. This can limit their ability to participate fully in technology and design activities and can lead to anxiety or reluctance to engage with STEM.
The CNC Laser will remove some of these barriers, allowing pupils to take part in the manufacturing process and produce high-quality outcomes from their own designs. The experience will also provide a valuable introduction to manufacturing processes similar to those used in industry.
The project will be delivered across the post-primary sector, supporting STEM learning in both the classroom and technology workshop. Around 150 pupils aged 11–19, from Year 8 through to post-16, will benefit.
Each year group will undertake a manufacturing project tailored to pupils’ abilities and learning needs, with the finished products sold by pupils at the school’s Christmas Fair.
“This Funding will enhance the teaching of STEM throughout the school, by the removal of barriers pupils would otherwise face to learning manufacturing skills. It will also increase their choice of career pathway by opening-up, through positive experiences, avenues that they might have previously deemed closed to them.”
Bryan Hunter, Head of Middle School