“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”  Steve Jobs

Purpose

Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. It encourages students to learn to think and intervene creatively to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team. At Kingsbridge Community College, we encourage students to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. The curriculum links learning with career paths aiming to inspire future architects, chefs, engineers and designers.

Design

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, we teach the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. The students design and create products using different materials and using a wide range of tools, machines and processes to increase their practical confidence and improve their design awareness. The curriculum is designed to provide breadth and depth.

In KS3 students are taught and assessed in 5 areas to develop a deeper understanding of:

Communication & innovation: How to research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products, aimed at individuals or groups. Students learn to generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through iteration, discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design (CAD).

Making: How to select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks and how to use a wider range of materials, ingredients and components, according to their functional properties, aesthetic qualities and, where appropriate, taste.

Critical analysis: How to investigate and analyses a range of existing products. Evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work. Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world.

Material intelligence: Understand and use electrical and mechanical systems in their products where appropriate. Understand the increasing part design and engineering has in responsible design and creating more environmentally friendly products that use less energy, produce less waste and are sustainable. Understand and apply the principles of colouring and decoration different fabrics, how to join them and add fixings to create products and garments.

Food & Nutrition: Understand and apply the principles of nutrition and health. Cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes so that they can feed themselves and others a healthy and varied diet. Become competent in a range of cooking techniques. Understand the source, seasonality and characteristics of a broad range of ingredients.

At KS3 all students study Design and Technology on a rotation system. The focus of each area is predominantly on practical work, teaching students the practical skills they need to be able to produce a wide range of products. In addition to the practical skills, students are taught key knowledge and skills, strong links are made to other STEM subjects. Numeracy and literacy play a key part in the delivery of the Design and Technology curriculum.

At KS4 and KS5 students are encouraged to build upon their knowledge and work more independently to consolidate their learning from previous units. Students are supported to develop their skills in the areas of core technical principles, specialist technical principles and designing and making principles. In each year there are a wide range of materials and equipment used and the scheme of work is progressive, so that students are stretched and challenged with the skills they learnt in the previous year in addition to learning more advanced skills and techniques in the current year. The scheme of learning progresses from making items for themselves onto making items for others and then specific clients and groups in society.

Most lessons taught from KS3 to KS5 are linked to at least one of our core department skills:

Communication – The ability to be able to present and explain design ideas. This includes hand drawing techniques, written annotations, CAD and 3D modelling.

Innovation – The ability to generate a wide range of original and creative design solutions that solve real world problems and needs.

Empathy – The ability to understand who you are designing for and addressing their specific needs in your designs.

Material intelligence – The ability to understand the working properties (characteristics) of common materials to help you make suitable choices

Making – The ability to cut, shape and join common materials together in order to build prototype products.

Environmental responsibility – The ability to understand the negative impact products can have on the environment during their life and the methods we can use to reduce it.

Critical analysis – The ability to analyse and evaluate existing products, design ideas or built prototypes, to identify what you could do to further improve them.