A woodworking class at Paget Primary School has proved popular with students and teachers.

The Bermuda Technical Institute Association and the Hamilton Rotary Club launched the programme, which focuses on carpentry to promote critical thinking and creativity, as an Adopt-a-School initiative in 2022.

Kevin Bean, senior adjunct lecturer for the Bermuda College’s prerequisite technical programme, is leading the classes.

He explained: “We initially started with just sawing and the students started making robots from the different shapes that we worked with.

“Students had to cut, measure and make a butt joint, where they had to use nails and move screws, and now they’re making the next joint up, a lap joint.

“If they’re here long enough, we will start doing mortise and tenon joints, which is the basics of all framework.”

He added: “They’ve progressed from the time they started. They’re getting their measurements down and if they finish in time, they should be presenting in the Agricultural Exhibition.”

Sonia Raynor, the principal of Paget Primary, highlighted Mr Bean’s patience with the students and explained: “[This class] could be a docu-series on how children can grow in other areas outside of the typical, regular classroom at the primary school level.

“This group started in P4 and now they’re in P6. They’re confident, they can speak to what they know and they demonstrate some sort of student professionalism.”

Averlyon Simons, the secretary of the Hamilton Rotary Club, said it was a big transition for him from Elliot Primary School to Bermuda Technical Institute, which closed its doors in 1969, but this programme “makes it a smoother process from when students are ten or 11 and going into the next phase of their learning”.

Organisers hope to expand the programme with support from education officials and corporate sponsors.