Design Technology:
This Subject is designed to allow the students to experience manipulating materials, learning about the application of care and safe working practices, product design, environmental issues, material recognition and management of timing and production of products they make.
Year 7: Health and Safety will be a key component of the learning and an understanding of the expected behavior in a workshop environment. Pupils will be introduced to a series of tools and equipment. The aim is for the students to complete short and simple cutting exercises, product placement and an element of free choice design.
Further projects will allow all students to experience the manufacturing projects including electronics. This will allow all pupils to gain greater understanding of basic electronics, soldering and the forming of plastics.
Thus giving them an understanding of the varying types of materials available to them and how they can work with them.
Year 8: All pupils design and manufacture a working prototype. The idea of this is to give the pupils some knowledge on how to use wood joints to strengthen and support. They involve mechanisms which they can modify if they wish to make their projects more intricate. The emphasis is on the construction so they can experience making wood joints comman in the construction industry.
A simple engineering project is also offered to give them experience in working with metals with an emphasis on fixings and quality of finish
Year 9: All pupils will be involved in the manufacture of three projects. One in wood, one using metal and one using acrylic. Each will elements of individual design choices and each will add to their knowledge of making for the future. Here they begin to get the opportunity to problem solve a task using the knowledge gained from previous projects.
At Key Stage 4:
Our students experience working with a variety of materials to develop working skills and enable them to learn to remember processes and procedures for future project work. Areas of choice for their ideas come from their experiences within their environment and interests. Encouragement is given to push ideas forward to match a design brief and to aim to provide a useful solution for a given situation.
Making activities continue to allow the students to enhance their knowledge base and skills so that they gain confidence when making their final choice of project for their controlled assessment tasks. The course allows students to be aware of areas such as sustainability, costing, material availability, materials choices and management of their activities.
The controlled assessment covers all aspects of their making and theory knowledge. An emphasis on Timbers is used to develop their understanding of the environment and sustainability within our society.
