Metal cutting facility - now open!

Most schools in the Southern board having been making good use of the CNC facilities that are available to them, either on a loan basis or accessing the use of a machine based at Clounagh.  The Technology team are very proud and excited to announce the launch of a new facility - the Techsoft Plasmacut.  The procedure for machining is much the same as any TechSoft machine, either by producing a Techsoft 2D design file or importing a DXF from Solidworks or similar programme.  Now you can slice your way through mild steel, up to 6mm thick, with no more hassle than it took to slice through card on a vinyl cutter!
For more info and to see a demo of the machine in action click here

Felder Circular saw/bandsaw refresher course

The Clounagh Centre have confirmed a number of dates for those teachers and technicians requiring refresher training in the use of a Felder Circular saw.  Letters of invite have already been sent out to everyone concerned.  If however you have not received a letter of invite and require training, then please contact jacquie.uprichard@selb.org

NEW Solidworks Student Design Kit 2011

As some of you may already be aware the student design kit license has already expired and judging by the number of ever increasing phone calls requesting a fix for the solution i think its pretty safe to say that there is still a demand for this software in homes, soooooooooooooooooooo we are pleased to announce that the new disc is now available from the Clounagh Centre, please feel free to contact us for further details.

Exciting new Technology Resources

Still labouring from Turkey overdose? Finding the weather a bit of a downer? Or just don't like January?
Well, we can't really help, although we do have something that might just cheer you up. Some very professional and comprehensive Technology resources have recently been uploaded onto clounagh.org (and more to follow).  If you are thinking of introducing a new project at KS3 then you might want to look here first.  A big thanks to Donogh McLaverty and the rest of the Technology team at St Paul's JHS Lurgan for sharing these resources.  Log into clounagh.org and go to http://clounagh.org/course/view.php?id=323  to view these resources.

PS Happy new year!

STEM Funding - Post Primary projects.

A sum of money has been made available to continue to build the professional capacity of STEM teaching staff in Post Primary Schools by developing and promoting the sharing of effective practice at Key Stages 3 and 4.

Post Primary schools are invited to bid for funding in support of this remit through either:

• collaboration between a minimum of 2 STEM Areas of Learning within a school; or

• collaboration in relation to the promotion, learning and teaching of an identified STEM subject between a minimum of 2 schools within an Area Learning Community.

To access more information and review the application form click here.

KS3 Technology Survey

If you are considering auditing or reviewing your KS3 provision, then it might be a good idea to start with the pupils.  As teachers of Technology we all know what works well and what doesn't, or do we?   In order to help measure the success of your KS3 programme we have made an on-line survey available.  Changes made as a result of findings within this survey could lead to positive changes and enrich the provision of T&D.  I have made a copy of this available for everyone within the template gallery in Google Docs.  You can access this form by clicking here.  If you are interested in implementing this survey and want to know more please contact a member of the Technology team at Clounagh. Credit to J Moore in Fivemiletown High School for sharing this with the Technology Community.

Solidworks student kit - extended licence

There has been some recent confusion over the expiry date of the SW student design kit.  We have posted a help sheet on clounagh.org to help students extend this date.  Click here for further information on how to do this.