Engaging in practical activities such as traditional crafts has always been a key feature of education at The Mount. These activities are organised as 'workshop courses' and comprise:
• Baking
• Cooking
• Gardening
• Pottery
• Weaving
Practical activities are valued both for their therapeutic potential and also for developing valuable transferable skills. Each workshop presents very different opportunities and we take seriously the process of student choice of their workshop(s), which follows their 'taster' period in each of the 3 or 4 workshops available in any year. At the end of the second year students decide whether to gain further skills in their chosen workshop or to seek new experiences in another workshop.
Through their workshop courses students participate in work which is socially and culturally meaningful. The produce from the Bakery and Garden feeds the community. Artefacts from the Weavery and Pottery are used and displayed around the community or sold at Parents’ Days and local craft markets.
Each student in these traditional craft workshops develops a resonance with its distinctive way of working and this supports their growing confidence and self-esteem.
All workshop courses offer rich opportunities for embedded numeracy work. Each student's literacy development is supported through the building of a portfolio of their work.
