Key Stage 3
In year 7 and 8 the students have Design Technology for half a year and swap with Food Technology. In year 9 they have Design Technology and Food Technology for the full year.
The cornerstones of Key Stage 3 Design Technology are Drawing Skills, Designing and Understanding, and Making Skills. The curriculum has been designed to give our students in years 7-9 the most essential knowledge, skills and understanding each year to transition from primary school, develop their skills, and finally for them to make an informed choice when deciding upon their GCSEs.
In year 7 the students are taught the fundamentals of Design Technology, which involve:
- How to measure with accuracy to the nearest millimetre
- The health and safety rules of the workshop
- How to draw 3D shapes (oblique method)
- The design process (analysis, specifications, initial ideas, final idea, make, evaluate)
- Designing acrylic key fobs
- Working with tools (coping saw, files, wet & dry, tensol cement)
- Working with machines (sander, pillar drill, polisher)
- Making card template/prototypes before making key fobs with acrylic
- Evaluating and self-assessment against success criteria
- 1-point perspective and 2-point perspective drawing
- Applying colour and rendering to designs
- Understanding the properties of materials
- Working with tools (bench hook and tenon saw, PVA glue and clamping, bradawls and screwdrivers)
- Working with machines (line bending, scroll saws)
- Working with pine to make a desk tidy.
- Computer Aided Design (Introduction to SketchUp)
- Drawing with isometric grid paper
- Summative assessment
In year 8 the students develop their knowledge, understanding and skills throughout a larger, more involved design and make project. This involves:
- Learning how to draw a range of model vehicles, figures and animals in 3D.
- Learning how to turn such drawings into designs by proposing how they intend to make these models in the workshop.
- This is achieved through learning a deeper understanding of how to cut, shape and combine a wider range of woods, metals and plastics.
- Learning how to create ideas using the 3D CAD app SketchUp. This enables the students to visualise their model in a 3D environment. They gain an understanding of how their models will be made from separate components and plan how they will be joined together.
- Making a variety of models such as cars, tanks, trucks, planes, rockets, helicopters, people and animals, all having their own unique manufacturing methods.
- In year 7 they learned how to operate the machines in a basic way under close supervision. Now they will follow plans and undertake more complex operations e.g. choosing a 9mm drill hole for a 9mm dowel component, then change the drill independently.
- Using screws to make rotating parts like wheels and rotors.
- Developing a deeper understanding of high quality finish when making models. This involves material preparation, undercoats, layering of paints, varnishing, polishing plastics.
- Summative assessment
In year 9 the students embark on a full year of Design Technology to prepare them for key stage 4. Three summative assessments are carried out in year 9. They study:
- A six lesson course of technical drawing skills which entails oblique 3D, isometric, one and two-point perspective, orthographic and exploded view diagrams.
- A door knocker project where they learn how to design and make a product that has moving parts reliant on off-centre gravity and counterweights. Here they are introduced to working with steel and dip coating finishes.
- A themed box project where the students follow the full design process (research, specification, initial ideas, development, final idea, making and evaluation) to prepare them for a GCSE style design and make project. Here they also learn how to add value to a standard box, adding features and design aesthetics to make it more saleable.
- Focused practical task: brazing steel.
- Vacuum forming a 3D name sign.
- Knowledge and Understanding lessons on the properties of materials, natural timbers, manufactured boards, metals and alloys, polymers, smart materials, textiles and modern materials.
Key Stage 4
The Design Technology GCSE through AQA is assessed as follows:
Non-Exam Assessment 50% Exam 50%
In year 10 the students follow a programme of study of one small project and one large project in preparation for beginning the GCSE NEA in June. This GCSE project is completed by Easter of year 11. Three summative assessments are carried out in year 10 and two in year 11.
Year 10 Project 1: The Four Joint Box
This is a small box that has a different joining method in each corner. The students are taught precise carpentry skills where note taking to inform independent manufacturing is employed. They practice their technical drawing skills and Computer Aided Design skills in order to present a set of plans prior to making.
Knowledge and understanding development begins after project 1 is completed and is threaded through the twice weekly lessons through a method of rigorous homework and feedback. This continues throughout project 2 up to June of year 10.
Main topics include:
- New and emerging technologies
- Energy generation
- Developments in new materials
- Mechanical and electrical systems
- Woods
- Metals
- Polymers
- Textiles
- Papers and card
- Scales of production
- Quality control and safety
- Designing and making principles
Year 10 Project 2: The Artisan’s Artefact
This project is an exploration and investigation into a wide variety of manufacturing methods which is brought together in a presentation case to show what the student is capable of. This includes:
- Turning threads on to steel bars
- Dressing and name stamping aluminium
- Layering, heating and twisting acrylic
- Forging and dip coating steel
- Planishing brass
- Laminating flexiply
- Advance brazing
- Welding and grinding
- Enamelling copper
- Using centre lathes to cross-face, drill and knurl
- Making the presentation case out of pine and plywood. Hanging the items on dowels. Painting and varnishing the outcome.
Year 11
The GCSE project begins in June of year 10 and continues throughout year 11. A design folder comprising of no more than 20 x A3 sheets of research, design, development, making, recording and evaluating is produced and submitted. The teachers gives the students a guide book and offers a recommended approach, but it is up to the students in year 11 show their independence and skill at this stage in order to complete this Non-Exam Assessment. Throughout year 11 a strict balance of project work and exam preparation is essential.
Design Technology students develop a strong independent work ethic that gives them the edge when moving from key stage 4 onto further education. The best students demonstrate a wide variety of skills such as creativity, analysis, critical thinking, time and project management, applied mathematics, iterative development of ideas, knowledge and application of manufacturing methods, evaluative thinking and an open mind.