Planning and working safely in the workshop
Before any cutting starts, a good maker plans the sequence of steps — this avoids wasted material, wasted time, and accidents.
Part of your national curriculum
- Make: Work safely and accurately, planning the order of making and managing time and resources
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Work safely and accurately, planning the order of making and managing time and resources
Key learning points
- • Planning the order of making
- • Managing time and resources
- • Working safely
This lesson at a glance
- 22 minutes
- 14 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 14
Watch first
Planning and working safely in the workshop
An English teaching video on this topic from Design Squad . Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Work safely and accurately, planning the order of making and managing time and resources
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 14
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Planning the order of making
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 14
Learn
Planning the order of making
A flow chart or step-by-step list showing which part to make first prevents problems later, such as needing to drill a hole in a piece that has already been glued shut. Planning also identifies which tools and materials need to be ready at each stage.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 14
Learn
Managing time and resources
Estimating how long each stage will take, and checking enough material is available before starting, avoids rushed, unsafe work near a deadline. Off-cuts can sometimes be reused for smaller parts, reducing waste.
Quick check
Part 5 of 14
Quick check
Why plan the order of making before starting?
Reset break
Part 6 of 14
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 7 of 14
Quick check
What is a risk assessment?
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 14
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Working safely
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 14
Learn
Working safely
Tying back hair, wearing aprons or safety glasses, and keeping a tidy workspace are simple habits that prevent most workshop accidents. Risk assessment means spotting hazards, such as trailing cables, before they cause harm.
Quick check
Part 10 of 14
Quick check
Why keep a tidy workspace?
Challenge round
Part 11 of 14
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 12 of 14
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
____ also identifies which tools and materials need to be ready at each stage.
Mastery quiz
Part 13 of 14
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Planning and working safely in the workshop
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Why plan the order of making before starting?
2. What is a risk assessment?
3. Why keep a tidy workspace?
Lesson round-up
Part 14 of 14
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
Why the first prototype broke
A team designed a phone stand from 3 mm plywood. The brief said it must hold a 200 g phone at 60° and survive being knocked. The first prototype looked right but snapped at the joint after two knocks.
The team tested again and found the grain of the plywood ran across the narrowest part of the joint, so the wood split along it. They widened the joint from 8 mm to 20 mm, turned the piece so the grain ran along the load, and added a small fillet at the corner to spread the force.
The second prototype survived twenty knocks. It used 15% more material and took four minutes longer to cut — a trade-off the team recorded in their evaluation.
Written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Name the fault in the first prototype and explain why it happened.
- List the three changes the team made and what each one does.
- Write an evaluation of the second prototype against the brief, including the trade-off.
Design sheet
DiagramSketch two ideas with measurements and notes, then photograph the sheet.
2 labelled sketches
Evaluation
WritingWrite how well your idea meets the brief and what you would change next time.
6–8 sentences
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover
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Work safely and accurately, planning the order of making and managing time and resources