Woodwork
The woodworking sessions that we deliver are an opportunity to teach health and safety, safe working practices, and hand eye co-ordination skills. Students learn to use a range of traditional hand tools, cordless drill/drivers and measuring equipment. All projects are completed entirely by the students themselves under close supervision. As with all our training, the emphasis is on building skill and knowledge, we guide, enable and empower.
Students are taught to recognise and use a range of woodworking tools and equipment including hand and tenon saws, chisels, block and bench planes, surforms, rasps, marking out equipment, drills and drill/drivers, screwdrivers and various types of clamps. Each course runs for 6 weeks beginning with learning to select and use the correct saw in a given situation, good practice sawing techniques, using chisels and planes safely then moving on to making simple joints, drilling and countersinking for screws, boring large holes using flatbits and forstner bits and marking out and workholding methods. The course culminates with each student making a nestbox to RSPB standards. Students carry out all processes themselves but are guided strictly with poor qualitywork being rejected, in which case further instruction and support is given in order to ensure that skills are absorbed and retained.
Students find woodworking very satisfying and gain a respect for sharp tools and equipment, they learn to behave responsibly towards themselves and others. Although strict concentration is the order of the day on this programme, they enjoy the responsibility that using tools brings and gain a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure from the experience.
