New Mills School music-makers get creative with unusual objects

E.ON’s Creative Conductors workshop is designed to help pupils’ understanding of electricity, conduction and circuits, and at New Mills it concluded with the pupils performing their musical creations for their classmates.

During the workshop pupils rolled up their sleeves and experimented with a range of foods, plants and everyday objects which they clipped to circuit boards in order to demonstrate how the items could help conduct electricity.

This workshop forms part of E.ON’s commitment to helping educate communities across the country about saving energy and smarter energy solutions.

Billie-Jean Poole, who works in community relations at E.ON, said: “The idea behind Creative Conductors is to inspire pupils to discover for themselves the amazing conducting properties of everyday objects. Pupils also learn how to complete a circuit and then use that power to create different sounds and ultimately make music.

“These hands-on activities have been specifically designed to fit within the physics, design and computing curricula, and to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) topics to young people in a fun and inspiring way.”

Lorna Barnfather, head of science at New Mills School, said: “The pupils have thoroughly enjoyed E.ON’s Creative Conductors workshop and it’s encouraged them to get hands-on and to think about the topic of energy in a fun and engaging way.

“The class really enjoyed trying something new, and fully embraced the challenges they were set during the workshop. It was a lively session, and judging by the music produced, they quickly came to understand that just about any material that can conduct electricity can work in this set-up.”

Creative Conductors forms part of E.ON’s broader educational activities, developed to help teach children about where energy comes from and how it is used in our everyday lives. E.ON’s Energise Anything programme also includes online parent and classroom-based activities. These support the national curriculum and have been designed to help pupils aged 5-16 understand all stages of energy production, distribution and consumption. Full details and resources can be found at eonenergy.com/energiseanything.

To help people better understand their energy use, E.ON is installing smart meters for customers across Britain. Customers can visit eonenergy.com/smart for more information about E.ON’s self-reading smart meters and to see if they are able to get one installed. If eligible today, they can also book an appointment online.

Photo by Page One Photography