Year 7 Design and Technology at Park is designed to enable our students to make a successful transition from Key Stage 2. Students will study three main areas. Design and Technology where students are learning the design process and health and safety legislation whilst using new equipment. They will also study Food and Catering including health and hygiene basics and cooking skills. A Graphics and designing skills curriculum where student will look at precision what drawing and product analysis whilst some will be developing their understanding of Horticulture.
What Design and Technology aims to provide for our students:
Design and Technology prepares pupils to engage with rapidly changing technologies as well as challenging current designs so that students can creatively improve standards and solve real life problems. Our aim is to provide a rich and challenging curriculum that ensures all pupils will have the opportunity to produce excellent work by pushing their own boundaries and exploring their creativity. Design and Technology teaches students to learn about a wide range of materials, processes and manufacturing techniques. Pupils will become proficient in joining materials, developing drawing techniques, critiquing designed products and create effective products, dishes and outcomes. Design and Technology enables our students to combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetics, social, environmental issues functional and industrial practices.
Curriculum Intent
Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Students studying it will use their creativity and imagination to design and make a range of products that solve a variety of issues. Whilst designing students will consider other individuals needs as well as their own to produce the most effective outcome. Design and Technology requires a broad subject knowledge that draws upon other areas of the curriculum, for example, science engineering and maths. Pupils learn how to take risks and are required to design innovatively to produce new and interesting products and concepts.
All pupils will develop their creative, technical and practical skills to be able to partake in using new technologies successfully. Students will need to develop their knowledge and understanding of the subject so that they are able to design high quality products and prototypes for a variety of end users. Most importantly students will need to learn to have a critical eye when looking at existing product to analyse their strengths, weaknesses and suggest possible improvements as well as evaluate the successfulness of their own work.
Curriculum Implementation
Students will learn why conducting extensive research from a range of cultures and being able to understand a variety of needs is important when designing.
Being able to produce a design brief and understanding the how this is used in industry will enable students to keep their design focused and relevant.
Effective problem solving skills are vital for the students to critique their work and give careful thought about how this item could be developed of further changed or improved.
Students will learn a variety of hand skills with told and also machine processes, this will enable them to create an item/prototype/product that will fit within their specification parameters and show their skill.
A range of materials will be considered and will enable students to be critical but selective with their decision making process to create a final outcome.
Analysis of past and present designs will assist the students in understanding the limitations and possibilities that designing and creating can present.
Testing and learning about new technologies are important parts of students learning as this will enable students to show that they are becoming thoughtful designers. They will use their knowledge and responsibility as an environmentally considerate designer to create a sustainable product.
Whilst developing their skills student will need to be able to describe why a good technical understanding will help them to create a more effective outcome.
For further information on how our curriculum is implemented please click on the following links.
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10/11 Art/3D Design
Year 10 Hospitality & Catering
Year 10/11 Art and Design;Graphics
Year 10/11 APEX Construction Skills
Impact
Our pupils having completed our curriculum are more prepared for life past Park Community School because the problem-solving skills they have learnt are enabling them to be more creative and approach problems with an ‘out of the box’ solution. Our students are independent, organised, and can use machinery confidently. They will have used a small selection of industry standard equipment; this will give them the confidence when working in their future. Our curriculum is progressive and broad enabling our students to have a good knowledge of a variety different specialisms like, Construction, Hospitality and Catering, Design and Model Making, therefore giving our students a range of career paths. Our students leave with a broader cultural capital as in addition to our curriculum we offer a diverse range of extracurricular activities and competitions. We believe that our curriculum gives our students the ‘Practical Skills For Life’ that they need to be successful in their future.
If you are interested in a career in Design and Technology, please look at these websites or alternatively log into the student portal Design and Technology careers page
Additional opportunities:
- STEM Ambassadors (all years)
- Cooking Club (Year 7, 8 and 9)
- Rotary Young Chef competitions
- Homework Club (Year 7, 8 and 9)
- APEX Construction skills taster sessions (all years)
- Period 6 sessions (GCSE)
- Greenpower STEM Racing club. (all years)
Technology Department handbook
Please click the Technology handbook to view department guidance:
