Year 7
Pupils experience a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing. Pupils are taught the fundamentals of designing, manufacturing and evaluating. Pupils are encouraged to be creative and innovative as well as being able to solve problems through both design and practical activities. They experience working with a range of materials including; woods, metals, plastics, CAD and CAM and graphical communication techniques.
Year 8
We build on knowledge from Year 7 to further extend pupils understanding and application in a range of contexts. Pupils respond to briefs to design products for specific situations and circumstances. Pupils develop specifications to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing product that respond to needs in a variety of situations they generate creative ideas and develop and communicate design ideas using annotated sketches, detailed plans, 3-D prototype development.
Year 9
Pupils develop the skills they have acquired in key stage 3 to approach contexts which include a wide variety of settings including designing for others, social settings and looking into aspects including sustainable and environmental factors. Pupils take part in ‘Design Ventura’ where they are challenged to design a new product for the Design Museum Shop with the winning product manufactured and sold at the shop. This offers pupils a chance to develop design thinking, creative and business skills.
Years 10 and 11
AQA GCSE Design and Technology – this course builds on the basic skills developed in KS3 and challenges students to apply a far greater degree of accuracy in their work. Having learned to use a variety of skills, equipment and tools, students are encouraged to explore the iterative design process whilst creating and evaluating new and existing technologies, materials and products.
This qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit all their exams and submit all their non-exam assessment at the end of the course.
Course Content:
The course is made up of ONE NEA (Non – Exam Assessment) and one written exam.
The NEA is a substantial design and make task, which involves:
- Identifying and investigating design possibilities
- Producing a design brief and specification
- Generating design ideas
- Developing design ideas
- Realising design ideas
- Analysing & evaluating
The NEA will make up 50% of the overall qualification and will be completed in Y11 ONLY.
The written exam makes up the other 50% of the qualification and includes the application of:
- Core technical principles
- Specialist technical principles
- Designing and making principles
All of which will be studied and prepared for through Years 9 and 10 through design and manufacture tasks.
