Year 6 Design Sprint at Salway Ash Primary School
We recently ran a high-energy, hands-on workshop with the Year 6 students at Salway Ash Primary School in Bridport — and it was absolutely brilliant.
This was one of the workshops made possible through the recent fundraising for The Mindful Digital Collective, designed especially for the children who couldn’t take part in our afterschool club due to limited space.
Why we did it
Over the past five weeks, I’d been running an afterschool club at the school. We had a huge response — loads of interest from both students and parents — but not enough space for everyone.
Rather than run another full club during a busy end-of-term stretch, I created a one-off 2.5-hour workshop to deliver the best bits of the club in one powerful morning.
What happened on the day
The workshop was just for Year 6 — 20 students in total — and we kicked things off at 9:30am. With a short break in the middle, we finished just before lunch.
The whole session was inspired by a design sprint — a creative problem-solving method used by big companies to move from idea to tested prototype, fast. I adapted it for the classroom, but the spirit of moving quickly, working together, and thinking big was all there.
Meet the dream teams
We started by getting into teams and assigning roles — and this is where the energy really lifted. Every child had an important part to play:
🙋🏻♀️The Decider – makes the final decision if the team can’t agree
🙋🏻♀️The Facilitator – keeps the team focused and on time
🙋🏻♀️The Designer – brings the ideas to life through drawing
🙋🏻♀️The Presenter – shares the final idea with everyone
🙋🏻♀️The Writer – captures the key points and writes the story or message
These roles helped the teams move quickly, stay focused, and make sure everyone had a voice.
Enter Elen
Once the teams were ready, I introduced them to Elen, a fictional Year 7 student facing some challenges in her group chat. The aim was to get the children thinking with empathy — to step into someone else’s shoes and understand how group chat issues can affect real people.
We then explored a few real-world problems that Elen was facing. Each team chose one they wanted to try and solve.
Let the creativity flow
Next came one of the most fun parts of the day — a sketching challenge called Crazy 8s. The idea is simple: one idea per minute, for eight minutes. It sounds fast because it is! But that’s the point — there’s no time to overthink. You just get your ideas out and see where they take you.
It was a challenge, but with a bit of inspiration and encouragement, the room came alive with creativity. I loved watching the different directions each team took.
Once the sketching was done, the teams shared their ideas, talked them through, and dot voted on the one they thought worked best. If it was too close to call, the Decider stepped up.
Building it out
Then it was time to bring those winning ideas to life. Each team had 45 minutes to develop their concept and create either a story or a poster to explain how it would help Elen.
This is when the energy really shifted up a gear. The teams were buzzing with excitement, working together, creating, building, imagining. You could feel the momentum growing in the room.
Show and tell
At the end of the session, each team presented their idea to me, some of the school staff, and the Year 5 students. It was a great way to get the younger year group inspired and thinking ahead to what they might get involved in next year.
We finished by celebrating the team that stood out most — for their creativity, teamwork, and how well they understood the problem.
What they left with
Every student walked away with a goodie bag — but more importantly, they left proud of what they’d achieved, full of ideas, and excited about how they can help shape the digital world around them.
Thank you
A huge thank you to Mr Overment for giving me the opportunity to run the workshop, to Mrs Friedman for being fantastic support throughout the morning, and to Mrs Smith for helping with the judging — I couldn’t have done it without you.
And of course, a massive well done to the amazing Year 6 students. You brought such energy, creativity, and heart to the session.
Finally, a special thank you to everyone who supported the recent Crowdfunder campaign. Every penny raised is going directly into giving children meaningful experiences like this one and helping important messages land in a fun, memorable way. Your support truly makes a difference — thank you.