Primary 2 were delighted to welcome Fia’s daddy to school today to share his expertise and knowledge of houses and homes and how he plans, designs and oversees buildings and spaces. We listened to the many different types of homes in lots of countries, those who live in flats and have to share a green space to play, some who live on houseboats and houses in the woods completely made of glass. We knew that these homes would need their windows cleaned often and Mr. Shields told us that they have a special material that reflects the heat off them so they don’t end up like a greenhouse! Our next step was to learn that house plans are now drawn up using computers, not like long ago with drawing boards, pencils and rulers. We then were split into five groups and given a design brief to work at together. This involved lots of discussion of what the people wanted, where the different rooms were located and why and we set to work cutting, re-arranging and adding suitable features of our own. Each group then reported their design briefs to their peers. We developed lots of language, critical thinking and knowledge about house plans and were each given a new sketch pad to have a go at being an architect ourselves. Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Shields for your time and wealth of experience today together with your generous gifts and we will continue to use real house plans in our play next week.
