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As the academic year draws to a close, we're filled with immense pride reflecting on the incredible journey we've shared with our students within Design and Technology. This year, our DT learning area has been a hub of innovation, where students have honed their skills in identifying real-world problems and creatively designing and making imaginative solutions, developing crucial technical expertise along the way.
Key Stage Three
As we reach the culmination of another vibrant academic year at the Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy, we are incredibly proud to celebrate the remarkable journey of our Key Stage 3 Design students within the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP). This year, our Design classrooms and workshops have been a dynamic hub of inquiry, creativity, and purposeful action.
The MYP Design curriculum at KS3 challenges our students to not just make things, but to truly think like designers. It’s about more than just tools and materials; it’s about nurturing a systematic approach to solving real-world problems and creating innovative solutions.
Throughout the year, our students have engaged deeply with the IB MYP Design Cycle, a powerful framework that guides their learning. This has seen them:
Inquire and Analyze: Whether it was exploring the needs of a target audience for their steady hand game in year eight or researching sustainable materials for their sweet dispenser project in year nine, students have developed strong research and analytical skills. They learned to ask critical questions, gather relevant information, and thoroughly investigate design problems.
Develop Ideas: The ideation phase has seen an explosion of creativity! Our students have learned to generate diverse and innovative solutions, from rapid sketching and CAD modelling to brainstorming and mind-mapping. They embraced taking creative risks, constantly refining their ideas based on feedback and their growing understanding.
Create the Solution: This is where ideas become reality! Our students have gained invaluable practical and technical skills, safely mastering a range of tools and equipment in our workshops. They've worked with timbers, polymers, and electronic components, developing precision and attention to detail as they manufactured their prototypes. The satisfaction of seeing their designs come to life has been truly inspiring.
Evaluate: A crucial part of the design process, our students have become reflective practitioners. They've rigorously tested their prototypes, gathered feedback, and critically evaluated the success of their solutions against their initial design specifications. This continuous cycle of improvement is a cornerstone of the MYP, fostering resilience and adaptability.
Beyond these core design cycle skills, our students have also blossomed in their Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills. They've demonstrated exceptional communication skills through their design portfolios and presentations, honed their self-management in tackling complex projects, and collaborated effectively, showcasing excellent social skills.
The work produced by our KS3 Design students this year has been truly outstanding, reflecting their dedication, ingenuity, and growing understanding of how design shapes our world. We are excited to see how they continue to apply these fundamental skills as they progress through their education and become the designers and innovators of tomorrow.
Our Students Cook Up a Storm with Jamie Oliver!
Our Students Cook Up a Storm with Jamie Oliver!
This competition was about more than just cooking a tasty meal. It perfectly aligned with Jamie Oliver's "10 Skills" programme, which aims to equip young people with essential cooking and food education. Our students gained invaluable practical skills, including knife safety, understanding ingredients, and the importance of fresh, nutritious food. They also learned about food hygiene and the satisfaction of creating something from scratch.
We are incredibly proud to announce that the Guinness World Record was successfully broken, with over 10,515 participants from more than 700 schools across 42 countries! Our students are now part of a truly global culinary achievement!
Congratulations to all the students who took part. Your enthusiasm, hard work, and willingness to step out of your comfort zones made this a truly memorable event. We hope this experience has ignited a lifelong love for cooking and a deeper appreciation for the power of good food.
Year 10 Design Technology Made In Bluewater Challenge
Back in January, sixteen of our Sir Geoffrey Leigh students started in the annual Landsec Bluewater Made In design challenge. Team Checkmate wowed the judges and won the local competition, they then stormed through the virtual semi finals where they had to pitch their board games café to a 9 strong panel of professionals from the retail and design sector to get through to the national final.
Of the 36 teams and 17 schools across 8 locations our 'Checkmate Team' of students made it to the final three teams.
Earlier this month the finals were held at the Landsec headquarters in Victoria; the students networked with a range of Landsec staff to consider future job opportunities, had a tour of the offices and site and waited patiently for their presentation slot.
The students did a fantastic job, they were extremely professional and polished. They presented to such a high standard that left the judges with little to ask as they had covered absolutely everything in their pitch.
Although they were not crowned overall winners feedback from the judging panel was very complementary, they noted how "Checkmate had the most feasible design idea" and that they "could see it working in their sites, as it is ready to go", "every aspect of the business had been considered" and "the social media element was fantastic".
We are very proud of the students and they have left a hard seat to fill for next years competition.
Author:
Mrs Coules - Coordinator of Learning for Design Technology
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