OUR VISIT TO LOCAL FACTORIES

During the month of February a group of pupils from year five went to visit some industries

in our neighbourhood. They could get informed about how these processes of

manufacturing have changed along the years and they were able to make questions to the

artisans.

Our first visit was to Juan, a grass artisan/wicker worker

(espartero) near our school and they made some

questions to him. The pupils could see the process of

making brooms, carpets, chairs...

He explained to the children how important it is to be

determined to develop a job like this, to make an effort

when you are very young, to sacrifice your spare time

and instead of playing all the time trying to learn from

the experts and work hard.

He also told us how difficult it is now to survive with this kind of work due to the unfair

competition that there is between the small shops

and the big stores.

If someone wants to get more information about

the products that Juan makes and sells you can

have a look at his webpage. As he told us,

Internet has become a very useful tool to

communicate with clients all over the world.

http://www.esparteria.com/

The children were really interested in all the

things that Juan told and all the tools,

materials and products that he showed us.

He encouraged the pupils to study as hard as they can, to take

profit from all the opportunities they get and to prepare

themselves for the future, which seems to be not very easy if you

don’t realise how important it is to learn at school and in life in

general.

We spent a nice

morning with him,

chatting with him while

he was repairing a chair

or attending a client.

THANKS JUAN!!!

Designs diversifying beyond jewellery for renowned companies such as Georg

Jensen, Munio and Kahler.

Another group of pupils from year five went to visit the jeweler

Helena Rohner’s shop and atelier near school. Her daughter and

son have been pupils in our school.

It was really fascinating to see all the creativity she has in her designs. Purity, sincerity and

a surprising combination of materials shape her success of their jewels.

Through a lot of questions she had the kindness to answer, we could know she started to

love design since she was very young and some of the pupils could identify themselves with

her, because some of them are really

artists!!

At the atelier we were able to see

some of the beautiful rings,

necklaces, earrings and bracelets

which took their attention completely.

It was amazing the variety of tools that she uses

including special software.

We enjoyed the visit a lot and many of the children dream now of being designers.