Curriculum Intent
KS3 – to provide students with an ever developing broad-based up to date experience in each area of Technology. This will build on and add to the work students covered in KS2. A nine-week carousel is followed for all areas at KS3. Currently these areas include Food, Graphics, Technical Drawing and Product Design. At the end of KS3 students should:
• Be able to make an informed choice for their options;
• Have knowledge and skills for life;
• Have skills and knowledge that can be built on should they choose a technology option;
• Have covered the national curriculum for KS3.
KS4 – the exam board curriculum forms the basis of the syllabus for most lessons, particularly those lessons preparing students for exams. This is supplemented with traditional skills and knowledge acquired through projects in the workshop and modern manufacturing techniques in the CAD CAM area. In Technical Drawing students will develop how to effectively communicate design ideas using industry-based practice. These practical sessions provide skills for life, make lessons more relevant and interesting for students and bring to life some of the theoretical knowledge covered.
Programmes of Study
KS3 - A carousel of Technical Drawing, Graphics, Food and Product Design where students spend nine weeks in each specialist area. This has the national curriculum for KS3 as its foundations.
KS4 - If opted for a GCSE course titled ‘Food & Nutrition’ is taken or vocational qualification ‘Engineering’.
Marking and Assessment
KS3 – Teacher assessments of the design and practical work completed by students are made for each nine-week carousel. These help to inform parents of a student's progress and effort. Verbal feedback in lessons plays a major role, especially in practical sessions. Students also receive written teacher feedback as well as self/peer assessments to further guide their learning.
KS4 – during focussed practical tasks feedback is verbal with assessments being recorded if appropriate at the end of the tasks. These judgements give guidance to the students but play no part in their final GCSE mark. Core content covered in theory lessons is assessed both in class and with mock exams in both years 10 and 11. Students are given grades throughout the year in accordance with whole school assessment. Marking of core content is often a matter of checking students are making suitable notes from which to learn / revise and periodically giving them the opportunity to check their learning with end of unit tests, class worksheets and homework's that pose questions about recent work covered.
GCSE marks come from two sources.
- 50% exam (externally assessed) and
- 50% coursework (also known as None Examined Assessments (NEA’s) - internally assessed, externally moderated). The latter is conducted under controlled assessment guidelines written by the exam board. Students get the chance to investigate, design and make a practical outcome that addresses one of the themes published by the exam board.
Vocational marks come from two sources.
1) 40% exam (externally assessed) and
2) 60% coursework (also known as None Examined Assessments (NEA’s) - internally assessed, externally moderated). The latter is conducted under controlled assessment guidelines written by the exam board. Students get the chance to investigate, design and make a practical outcome that addresses one of the themes published by the exam board.
Examinations
Food & Nutrition - A single tier exam sat at the end of year 11 accounts for 50% of the final GCSE marks. Current intent is to use AQA exam board which is a 2-hour exam. The remaining 50% of their marks come from non-examined assessments (NEA’s or coursework) completed in lesson time.
Engineering - A single tier exam sat at the end of year 11 accounts for 40% of the final vocational marks. Current intent is to use NCFE exam board which is a 1-hour 30minutes exam. The remaining 60% of their marks come from non-examined assessments (NEA’s or coursework) completed in lesson time.
Revision Guides/Supporting Resources
Past examination papers and revision materials will be made available to all students. In addition to these and students' own notes made in class, the following revision guides are available. It is strongly advised that one of these be purchased if possible. It is worth pointing out that students who fail to achieve their target grades usually do so because of a lack of exam preparation.
1) CGP guides - Complete revision and practice ISBN 978-1-78294-755-4 - Good guide with some exam practice questions in.
2) Teams – On Microsoft outlook there are resources stored in Teams which are very extensive and allow students to learn remotely, revise and supplement their classwork in their own time and at a pace that suits them. These can be accessed outside of school using the internet.
3) Seneca – free online revision site - make good use of this for all subject
4) designtechnology.com - Very good online site for all technology areas.
5) BBC Bitesize – useful for all subjects, gives a general and interactive overview of the subject.
Staff Details
Mr Donnison – Curriculum Leader, teacher of technology – Product Design & NCFE Engineering
Mrs Shaw – Teacher of Food & Nutrition – GCSE Food & KS3 Food
Mr Cassidy – Teacher of Technology – Graphics
Mr Carr – Teacher of Technical Drawing – Y9
Miss Richardson – Teacher of Technical Drawing - Y8
Mr Charles – Teacher of Technical Drawing - Y7
Careers and Progression
GCSE Design Technology lends itself to a variety or careers including engineering, architecture, mechanic, trades such as plumbing, building, carpentry and joinery, electrician, graphics design and graphics artist. It shows future employers / colleges that students are both academic and have practical skills. Their GCSE coursework shows a wide range of skills including ICT, literacy, CAD / CAM, designing, sketching and digital media.
This course leads on to A levels or level 2 and level 3 further education study in product design, engineering, 3D design, art and design and graphic design to name a few.
There is the ability to take this further to university level study in a range of related subjects or follow an apprenticeship route.