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Megan Ballin

Home Education June 2023

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a group of people sat down at KWMC The Factory

Since the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in young people who are being home-educated. As a response to this social change, we decided to run a Maker City project throughout June. This was specifically for home-educated young people and their parent-teachers to come to KWMC The Factory and take part in alternative STEAM education. This also included offering Continuing Professional Development for the parent-teachers. Creating a space where young people and their parents could learn and create together felt truly inspirational.

A parent-teacher and young person stood over a heat press

We designed a variety of activities which allowed the young people and parent-teachers to learn both collaboratively and independently, experimenting with hands-on proto-typing and engineering tasks, leading to sophisticated digital fabrication.

A young person on a macbook using tinkerCAD

The cohort thrived in our community Maker Space, and we witnessed the group bloom in skills, confidence and a sense of empowerment. By the end of the month, the group had 3D-designed boats using Tinker CAD, learnt how to operate Sphero robots, designed an entire city based on their personal social action passions, laser cut name badges, built propeller boats to race across a swimming pool and designed, UV printed and heat-pressed their own family flags.

A group of people outside of KWMC The Factory showing what they have created.

We have built strong relationships with this local cohort and are hoping to continue working together in the future. Thank you for all the helpful feedback we received from both parents and young people. Here is one of our favourite quotes;

‘The combination of discussion, design and practical activities worked well. I gained an understanding of new software and different machinery which is available to use. We wish there were more home-ed sessions, we loved it – thank you!’

parent-teacher
A parent-teacher and young person at a desk looking at a computer screen and drawing

Maker City Winter Term!

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Our Tuesday night Maker City cohort is gaining great confidence both personally and in using the software and hardware in The Factory. This has been fantastic to see. We have been focusing on social action and incorporating that into different creative sessions. Guiding the young people through the design process from generating ideas in groups to discussing them openly and presenting their ideas publicly. From sketching and prototyping to designing on software and making the final products using The Factory kit.

Through our ongoing research project with UCL, we have recruited a team of young researchers from our core cohort. They have been learning about what makes equitable maker spaces; undergoing various research tasks to help understand and develop the Maker City program. The co-researchers both participate in research studies as well as design and facilitate their own research. 

As well as our after-school session, Maker City has been running weekly sessions at Knowle DGE secondary school through the winter term. Years 10 and 11 have been working together to learn digital fabrication skills. The cohort decided to use their new design skills to develop their own dungeons and dragons gaming world. One young person started designing dice on TinkerCAD which we printed on our 3D printer. The cohort also laser-cut their own personal character pieces in a variety of 2D and 3D design methods and started designing their own game board. 

The young people have been thinking about how to bring the community together and this new design project has allowed them to create a new Knowle DGE gaming community with other students; creating a safe space, thriving with creativity and possibilities which benefits young people’s mental health significantly. 

The young people at Knowle DGE have also learnt how to create stickers using Inkscape and a vinyl cutter. Liam is passionate about nature and green spaces in Bristol and designed squirrel stickers as part of an environmental project. Although he is worried about the climate crisis, Liam made us all smile by telling us about the squirrel near his home which he has seen navigating the zebra crossing like a human – twice!  

 
We can bring lots of our digital fabrication equipment into schools for Maker City sessions and at the end of the term we invite our school cohorts to The Factory to experience the rest of our equipment in action. This term we also ran our school program with Parson’s Street Primary School and Holy Cross Primary School.

At the end of March, we hosted the end-of-term showcase. There was a magical energy in the building as young people took their family and friends on tours around The Factory; showing them their projects and teaching them how to use the kit.  

Our partners from ARUP, Arcadis and Mott Macdonald joined us to support the young people and be part of this celebration. Professionals from each organisation have been mentoring the young people throughout the year, working closely with them to help them build on their ideas and connect their projects to real-world applications. These mentors will continue working with the young people and in July they will collaborate with us to run our once-in-a-lifetime work experience program.

If you are interested in signing up for any of our after-school sessions or have any questions, please email jumpstudios@kwmc.org.uk.

Youth Council 2022 Wrap Up

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KWMC Youth Council had a huge year in 2022. From meeting at the media centre where we planned, discussed and voted for real-world issues to travelling around the city where the young people represented their local community in events all over Bristol.

The young people worked with Play Disrupt and Re:create Filwood to help co-design the new developments in Knowle West by workshopping and sharing ideas in meetings as well as taking part in augmented reality on the streets to use their voice to recreate the future of their community.

The Youth Council helped host KWMC’s Our Space event in April. The young people welcomed the members of the public into the media centre; proudly giving tours around the building and sharing their stories about the Our Space project and their involvement as part of the Knowle West Media Collective.

The young people also worked with Filwood Library by taking part in a toys audit. Playing games and helping the community at the same time.

On Thursday the 23rd of June, KWMC’s Youth Council headed down to City Hall to attend a youth conference hosted by Bristol City Council. The conference was an opportunity for youth council’s from around Bristol to come together and use their voices to help build the future of youth services in the city. 

The building was buzzing with excitable energy as young people gathered from all different corners of Bristol, from Southmead and Lawrence Weston to Hartcliff and Knowle West. Delicious food was provided and some inspirational videos were shared to highlight some of the amazing work being run by youth provisions within Bristol.  

Bristol City’s Youth Council were hosting the event and the members came round to greet all of the young people and talk to them about their passions and ideas. Conversations flowed about diverse topics; young people shared their views on the importance of trust and respect amongst young people and staff at youth provisions. Ideas about vegetable gardens and more green spaces were discussed in the hope to help the environment and the mental health of people in the city. As the young people talked, members of the Council made notes and the young people’s voices were recorded to send on to decision-makers in the Council. 

KWMC Youth Council were lucky enough to meet the Youth Mayor of Bristol, Anika Mistry and be given a tour of the Council Chamber. It was amazing to meet other young people in the city who were also keen to work together and make positive change in Bristol. 

In October, the Youth Council also attended K-West Fest and helped our team at Filwood Community Centre to create a beautiful festival where the community, danced, played games and shared food together. 

With so much to celebrate already, the Youth Council were generously awarded free VIP tickets to watch The Nutcracker in December at Bristol Old Vic. The young people had submitted their art as part of a competition with Bristol Old Vic and were overjoyed to be rewarded with tickets to this production. The show was phenomenal; from the amazing set design to the multi talented actors who were all singing, dancing and playing instruments! We had a magical time and we all left with smiles from ear to ear! 

The young people interviewed each other before and after the show and we have since written reviews about the show which we will be submitting as part of our Arts Awards Qualifications.

“I have never been the theatre but this has to be the best one I have ever seen.”

Young person

Thank you Bristol Old Vic for this unforgettable experience.

KWMC Youth Council has reconnected in 2023 welcoming some new faces and new energy. They are getting stuck into community development straight away, helping to decide on the new Filwood Broadway logo. We also spent the first session of 2023 writing some intentions for the year. The young people have some very exciting ideas in the pipeline!  

To find out more about the Youth Council please contact jumpstudios@kwmc.org.uk 

October Half Term At Jump Studios

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Maker City

With Halloween on the horizon, local young people came together for a day of spooky STEAM shenanigans at KWMC The Factory. From pumpkin carving, and clay sculpturing to making their own Halloween stickers and laser-cut frames, they did it all.

Photography

The group of young people learned composition theory, and how to operate a professional DSLR camera. They participated in a photography expedition to the Northern Slopes, learned how to edit images, and hosted a public photography exhibit at Knowle West Media Centre in only two days.

The building felt alive as young people shared a collection of 2D photography collages, digital images and visual storytelling presentations. A collection of their work is going to be up in the main studio for people to come and see in their own time!

If you are interested in signing up for any of our after-school sessions or have any questions, please follow this link or email jumpstudios@kwmc.org.uk.

April & May Youth Council Meeting

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April Youth Council

In April, the Youth Council recorded their meeting as a way to share their ideas and discussions. With the main studio mic-ed up and ready, to go we started the session by sharing the positive news that local community voices have driven change and helped sign off the new MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) which is being built on Filwood Fields.

This recent example of local voices being turned into action excited the committee and we spent some time mind mapping other changes we would like to see in Filwood. Some examples the young people came up with were: a bakery, a craft shop and a cafe where you can adopt animals.

The Youth Council mic-ed up in the main studio

A young person raised the matter of local concern in the last session about the proposed 5G mast that is being built in Redcatch Park. The group decided to investigate further and we did some self-led research. They searched the internet for stats, facts and forums before gathering information and reporting back.

We discussed the power of protesting and the young people decided on short snappy slogans to capture their beliefs about the mast. Examples were turned into placards which we later laser cut at KWMC.

The Youth Council presenting their placards

The rest of the session was spent thinking about some internal development within KWMC. The training rooms are undergoing a makeover so we went on a recce to check out the space and the young people shared their ideas about how we could change the space to suit their needs during Jump Studio sessions. 

After discussing plans as a group the team learnt how to use 3D design software; TinkerCAD to digitally design their ideal training room layout. The young people came up with some innovative ideas and supported them with advanced technical 3D designs. 

A Youth Council member using TinkerCAD to design their ideal training room

May Youth Council

Our May Youth Council session landed on the local referendum voting day. The main studio of KWMC was being used as a polling station so we created a mini polling station upstairs in the Western Room where the committee were given faux polling cards and were asked to vote on the real-life referendum. 

100% of the group voted that Bristol City Council should be run by 70 people as opposed to it being run by 1 mayor like it is at the moment. The young people discussed the pro’s and con’s of their democratic vote;

Pro’s of the Council being ran by 70 people:

  • Wanting something new  
  • Different ideas  
  • Different brain cells  
  • What if the mayor’s idea isn’t what the people want 
  • Different agreements  
  • Compromising and mixing different ideas together  
  • Think more about the community around Bristol  
  • Hold each other accountable for their actions  
  • Realising the risks that 1 person might not think about  
  • Democracy  

Cons;

  • Some people might disagree, it could cause arguments  

The young people then went on to discuss the legal age to vote. They were advocating that the law should change so that when young people reach Key Stage 4 at the age of 14 they should be allowed to vote. They believe there should be more information on the voting system at schools, in museums, and on the Tuesday night TV programme, ‘News Round’. Conversations emerged about the history of women’s ability to vote and the young people shared information they had about this topic. 

The young people spent the rest of the session thinking about their personal KWMC stories; how they first got involved with KWMC and how their journey has grown and developed. This was an opportunity for them to reflect on the impact KWMC has had on their lives and how they would like to stay connected in the future and help mould future projects.

To find out more about the Youth Council please contact jumpstudios@kwmc.org.uk 

Mental Health Awareness Week At Jump Studios

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This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and at Jump Studios, we have been incorporating mental health into our programme of after-school sessions throughout the entire of our last term and as we are in the opening stages of this term, we thought this week would be a good opportunity to revisit the theme.

We engaged with the theme by using games before designing and creating things that are associated with the young people’s reflections on mental health.

Based on the 5 steps of Mental Health and Wellbeing, we began sessions with a physical warm-up where the group intentionally walked around outside ‘Taking Notice’ of their breathing and their senses.

One-by-one, we introduced the other 4 steps.

When the word ‘Give’ was called out, the young people gestured to one another and gave each other a smile. When the word ‘Connect’ was called out they would walk up to the person closest to them and touch elbows. When ‘Be Active’ was called the young people did a star jump and for ‘Keep Learning’ they made a gesture to symbolise learning.

This exercise gave the young people a moment of their day to reflect and connect with themselves and their friends.

The theme continued into our sessions as they design and created projects based on Mental Health.

We have frequently found that the topic of mental health is always well received and treated with complete seriousness and maturity by the young people of Jump Studios, which is an exciting prospect to know that the next generation are so in touch with a topic that has potentially been neglected in the past.

We look forward to continuing this theme throughout the work we do with the young people at Knowle West Media Centre.

‘Our Space’ Celebration Event

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Last month, we ran the ‘Our Space’ celebration event at Knowle West Media Centre. The event celebrated the new artwork created by Yoli Ward-Streeter on the railings outside the media centre on Leinster Avenue to welcome the community inside.

Yoli collaborated with the young people of Jump Studios to create the beautiful artwork and at the celebration event, we invited friends and family down to the media centre to celebrate with refreshments and music performances.

Young people performing for friends and family

The young people co-led the event to showcase their musical talent and share their work that they have been rehearsing and practising over this term at ‘Sound Wave’.

Young people displaying their creations

The young people had the chance to share their creative personal projects with their parents and other members of the community. They took ownership of their space and their achievements, the energy was incredible and there was a real sense of pride and inspiration while we celebrated.

Our Space was such an exciting project to be part of, not only through collaborating with the young people but as an artist, I was given an enormous amount of creative freedom and support throughout the project.

Yoli Ward-Streeter

If you get the opportunity, please come down to the media centre and check out the new artwork on display and if you would like any updates you can follow us on Instagram or Twitter.

Young People’s Photography Showcase At We The Curious

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The final photography exhibition held at We The Curious

In October 2021, Jump Studios ran a Photography Programme for 10–16 year-olds throughout the half-term holidays. The programme featured a day where the young people got to learn and collaborate with We The Curious. The goal was to produce a photograph that expressed their take on climate change, in the community, for COP-26.

A lot of the young people had never used a DSLR camera before so Jump Studios spent the morning running creative workshops at We The Curious, before heading out onto the harbour for them to put their new skills into action.

Young people taking photos at Filwood Community Centre

The goal was to produce one photo, with their storytelling and social action skills that they have been learning in after-school sessions at Jump, that creatively expresses their views on climate change. Aside from this, the trip allowed young people to meet new peers and explore new parts of central Bristol.

A young person capturing the scenes of Bristol Harbour

“ It was nice having a walk around town. We got to see the ducks, the pigeons and I learnt how to use a DSLR camera.”

Young person

The exhibition was such a success; the young people wanted to send their work to We The Curious in hope of being chosen for the public COP-26 exhibition in central Bristol.

We were delighted when we found out the young people’s work was being displayed and We The Curious also gave out some free family memberships for the young people involved.

You can now find the work exhibited in our very own main studio at Knowle West Media Centre.

An image captured by a young person presented at Knowle West Media Centre

We are going to be running another Photography Holiday Programme over the summer.

Please get in touch via megan@kwmc.org.uk or jumpstudios@kwmc.org.uk if you know a young person who would like to be involved!