Design & Technology

Length of Course : The second year of a three year Key Stage 3 course

Course description and aims

In Year 8, Design & Technology is made up of three component parts: Cooking and Nutrition, Resistant Materials and Textiles. Year 8 encourages the students to combine practical skills with creative thinking to design and make products. We allow students to develop confidence in using their practical skills and promote the learners to be increasingly independent. The course helps prepare learners for the possible rigors of the GCSE courses, in either Food Preparation and Nutrition or Design Technology should they decide to select it as an option at the end of Key Stage 3.

Each component carefully builds upon skills taught in Year 7 to engage and challenge all learners. Exciting but challenging practical work is undertaken, increasing our learners’ skills base further giving them the confidence to design, plan and complete practical work independently, providing them with valuable skills when they come to leave home and go to university.

The main concepts and topics covered:

· Function of ingredients

· Pastry

· Intercultural cooking

· Sustainability

· Joining Techniques

· Reading circuit board plans

· Populating circuit boards

· Soldering

· Accurately measuring and marking out lap joints

· Understanding a variety of sanding/finishing techniques

· Using a sewing machine, safely

· Product design process

· Seams/Fabrics/Components

Contents

Cooking and Nutrition, Resistant Materials and Textiles are allocated 11 weeks’ curriculum time respectively. Each will be taught consecutively according to the Faculty timetable.

In Cooking and Nutrition, learners study a core of theory work that focuses on examining the functions of various ingredients as well as learning the practical skills of making different types of pastry. All recipes are made from scratch within year 8.

Resistant Materials focus on developing learners’ skills further with the use of machine tools such as scroll saws and pillar drills when working with polymers and gaining further insight into more complex electronic circuits such as potential dividers.

During the Textiles course, students follow the design process, beginning with research and finishing with a final product of a drawstring bag. Critical thinking along with practical skills are developed side by side. Students learn hand sewing and machine sewing techniques along with theory and techniques relevant to textile design.

Course outcomes

The study of Design & Technology encourages your child to develop the following skills:

- Enhanced practical cookery skills

- Working with a variety of food groups

- Research skills

- Planning skills

- Analytical/Evaluation skills

- Problem-solving

- Team and paired work

- Enhanced practical skills

Types of assessment

Student progress is assessed both formatively (as part of an on-going process throughout lessons) and summative (at the end of every topic)

Assessment at Key Stage 3 is measured against rubrics and progress maps. Students are encouraged to become involved in the assessment of their own work and that of peers.

PAR – we use the PAR marking model across the senior curriculum. PAR Positive, Action, Response is a three phase assessment model. The first is some positive feedback, the second is an area on which to improve and the third is what the student will implement to improve it. PAR marking in Art can take the form of self-assessment, peer assessment on an ongoing basis with regular teacher assessment during and at the end of each project. Sometimes PAR marking can take the form of verbal feedback by the teacher.

An end of year exam is undertaken in Design & Technology to assess learners in a summative manner.

Homework

Homework is set fortnightly and requires a minimum of 60 minutes effort. Homework is always linked to classwork and is an important part of the learning experience

Methodology

A variety of teaching styles are used to cater to the different learning styles of learners, including Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic. These are often employed together, allowing learners with different learning styles to all progress as expected during lessons.

Many resources are also uploaded to Google Classrooms.

Grading policy

Students are marked using levels connected to grading criteria in rubrics.

In Design and Technology students are marked within each component part.

Additional expectations

Learners are expected to bring an appropriate container to take their food home in when undertaking practical lessons.