CATEGORIES

The Barclay Well Tanks of the Great War

This constructional series addresses Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 narrow gauge locomotives supplied for use in the First World War. Built without the use of castings, the 0-4-0 design is described as two versions; asbuilt for the British Admiralty in 1918 and as rebuilt and currently running on the Talyllyn Railway as their locomotive No.6, Douglas. The 0-6-0 engines described were built in 1917 and operated on 60 centimetre gauge track at the Western Front in France. These were small, spartan machines of which only 25 were supplied and none have survived into preservation.

A Boiler Feed Pump

Ian Couchman redesigns the boiler feed pump for his Ruston Proctor traction engine.

Obituary Richard C. Guthrie

Richard Guthrie was a colourful character, with his smile, a glint in his eye and those decorative braces holding up his jeans.

A Visit To The Nottingham SMEE

My latest visit in this series was to the Nottingham SMEE at their impressive site at Little Ruddington about 5 miles south of Nottingham city centre.

Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition

The exhibition this year was the scene of yet another excellent assembly of models and traders, fulfilling the needs of the purist and casual model engineer alike.

Building Bridget Part 4

Building Bridget Part 4

Book Review Digital Model Making

The author started working as a model maker in 1987 in product design, moving onto architectural models and making props for TV.

A Visit To The Brecon Mountain Railway

Rhys Owen ascends the mountains of South Wales for a ride on a narrow gauge railway.

Seabourne Alpha An Aggregate Dredger

Michael Nicholson builds a model of a ship he worked on as a teenager.

The Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition Highlights

John Arrowsmith gives his first impression of this year’s Midlands exhibition at The Fosse.

Lowestoft Model Engineering Exhibition 2019

Julie Williams takes us on a quick tour of this year’s LOWMEX.

Upscaling Can Change The Game

Mark Rudall reflects on how something not much larger than a model can get you and the whole family on the water.

A Bird Automaton

John Moorhouse designs and constructs a singing bird automaton in the shape of a violin.

Quarter Scale Bentley BR2 Rotary Aero Engine

Mick Knights completes his aero engine.

Walchaerts Valve Gear For Sweet Pea

Initially, it was my locomotive friend John who gave me the idea of fitting a Walchaert’s gear to his Sweet Pea, which is fitted with a Hackworth gear at present and doesn't run particularly well.

Making and Using Wax Chucks

Tony Bird demonstrates an unusual but effective method for work holding.

We Visit the Wrexham & District Society of Model Engineers

John Arrowsmith ventures deeper into GWR territory to find a club with a healthy younger membership.

Backplate for Myford 254 lathe

Robert Walker finds himself having to make a backplate for a newly purchased chuck.

Try not to get hung up on linguistic convention, chic@s

Languages are like water – they take the easiest route. And, like gender, they are fluid. That is why, as world languages evolve to reflect cultural change, a revolution is under way in the use of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ terms, writes Heather Martin

Three simple psychology tips for better behaviour

When a pupil is acting up, their motivations are often hidden from view. It’s possible that teachers themselves are partially at fault for setting the wrong tone in their interaction with others, writes Lekha Sharma, who suggests ways to remodel a school culture

This research could be music to your ears…

Schools should resist putting additional time and resources into yet more English and maths lessons and instead give children’s learning a research-evidenced boost by encouraging them to join a band or an orchestra, says Martin Leigh

Minority (school) report

Predictive technology – powered by increasingly complex algorithms – is finding its way into schools, promising to pre-empt misbehaviour, violence or mental health issues before they happen. But does it work, and is its use ethical, asks Simon Creasey

Giving school a spin again

In a bid to improve parental engagement, one Edinburgh school is putting parents in their children’s shoes to experience a typical modern school day – and the results are breathtaking, finds Emma Seith

A Plant-Based Diet Of Learning

Aware of the mental health benefits of green-fingered working, Nigel Cox helped to set up an outreach course at his college to support people recovering from substance abuse and other personal challenges

Averting Pupils' Social Stigma By ‘Poverty Proofing'

Do your school policies unintentionally ‘out’ children from disadvantaged backgrounds? One charity says such occurrences are all too common and have proposed ‘poverty proofing’ as the solution. Lucy Edkins investigates

Social And Emotional Skills In The Early Years

Children who are able to focus their attention, manage their behaviour and interact positively with others from a young age experience better learning outcomes later in life, finds Irena Barker

How Centralised Detentions Get Pupils' Attention

By adopting a consistent whole-school approach to rewards and sanctions, we achieved a marked improvement in attitudes to learning – and reduced teachers’ workload, says Calvin Robinson

Homework Truths

With some studies claiming that homework has little or no impact on pupil achievement, schools have been tempted to cut back on it or ban it altogether. But we shouldn’t write homework off, warn two gurus of UK education research. Steve Higgins and Lee Elliot Major argue that the evidence on homework has been misrepresented – and out-of-school study can, in fact, have a major impact on learning outcomes

Is Instinct Becoming Extinct?

Amid the fear of accountability, the rise of evidence-informed practice and increasing curriculum constraints, is there any room left in the classroom for a teacher’s gut instinct about what might be best for the children in front of them? To find out, Ed Finch and his school carried out an experiment: what if every teacher was allowed to do anything they wanted for a day? And what would that tell us about the role of experience in how we teach today?

Behaviour Matters, But Relationships Matter More

To create a positive learning environment, we need to stop viewing students in an adversarial light, says Margaret Mulholland