Embedded Files
The Interactive Digital Magazine from CLEAPSS
D&T at Concordia College
Tom Doust; Instititue of Imagination
The Use of AI in the design process
Alex Pull
Welcome to the autumn 2024 edition of Futureminds.
Several of the articles in this issue have a primary focus. These have been provided to Futureminds by the Institute of Imagination. Nationally, the picture in design and technology education at KS1 and 2 is very mixed but , across the country, there are some exceptional case studies of superb learning. Often, we see a disconnect between the learning children are doing at KS2 and KS3. Sometimes pupils arrive at secondary level with little experience of creativity and design and technology. More often than not, however, very often we see pupils arrive into year 7 with higher expectations and abilities than anticipated. This is impacting KS3 planning in many secondary schools across the country positively.
The Institute of Imagination (iOi) is a charity that fosters creativity in children through STEAM activities. They run hands-on workshops and programmes to encourage problem-solving and innovation. Partnering with schools and communities, iOi nurtures curiosity, preparing children for the future.
The iOi predominantly work with KS1 and 2 pupils. However, we felt that their stories were relevant to how we consider imagination and creativity across the phases of schooling. The areas of focus for the iOi are very similar to the philosophies and focus of many educators within design and technology at secondary level. However, often the phases of schooling and subject ‘silos’ at secondary level can mean we don’t hear these stories. We hope you enjoy this collection of articles.
Here at CLEAPSS we provide comprehensive support to primary schools.
For our primary site, full of resources and guidance see here:
CLEAPSS NEWS
CLEAPSS NEWS
We have been incredibly busy at CLEAPSS since our last edition of Futureminds. We have written several new guides, launched the ‘CLEAPSS D&T Nationwide Network of Networks’ and launched our ‘VideoShorts’ project, a place for teachers and technicians to access short bitesize video content of practical examples of activities that could be done safely in the D&T or art classroom.
We have also continued our investigations and experimentations within the world of VR/XR and are thrilled to share with you an article from Priten Chauhan on the great work he is doing with MESH Ltd and Gravity Sketch.
Individual Logins:
Have we got your current contact details? We are excited to be developing individual logins which will allow you to have your own username and password and to set up your own preferences on the website. For this to work we will need to have your accurate contact details.
We plan to implement individual logins by the end of the academic year, so please do follow this link to make sure we have your details. All information collected will be used strictly in line with the CLEAPSS Privacy policy
The Centre is hosting a survey and we really hope you can help us. The survey seeks to find out what’s happening in primary schools with regard to teaching textiles. We want to establish how much time is spent, what children learn and make, and whether teachers have the skills and resources.
We need your help.
If you work in a primary school in the UK, please get involved. We are keen to hear from those teaching none, a little or lots of textiles – your opinions really matter.
To ensure we get a good participation, we are asking secondary teachers to let your local feeder schools about the survey. You might have colleagues or family members working in primary (SEND/middle) schools too. If so, please share the follow information:
The survey will take you around 10-15 minutes to complete. The survey is anonymous.
The link to the survey is: https://forms.gle/1FP2kaDg9hRYYwfi9
The survey is open now and closes on Friday 8 November (midnight). Thanks in advance for your support!
CLEAPSS Round table meeting; Teachers and practitioners.
One of the highlights of our work from the summer term was hosting a meeting for teachers of D&T, to discuss the present state of the subject, and perhaps provide some ideas for how we, at CLEAPSS, can support teachers and others over the coming years. 17 teachers, from a range of secondary settings, were present. There was a cross section of secondary provision represented, including inner-city and rural state comprehensives, grammar, independent schools, boarding public schools and international schools. We are now looking to our next stakeholder roundtable meeting with organisations from across the spectrum of design and technology and art education coming together. The DfE will be attending and listening to the ideas put forward.
The main themes from the meeting:
Clarity – what is the subject, and what are the alternatives
Communication – both inside and outside the school
School outreach – links to parents, local community, industry
Staff training – CPD that is relevant
The teachers felt that a number of pressures have a significant impact on their work. These have been captured in the following diagram, with the local curriculum (what the teachers actually teach) in the centre. Teachers reported that the other pressures, over which they had little direct control, heavily influence their work.
Examination Report
In the past we have used the autumn edition of Futureminds to identify some trends in GCSE and A-level results. This year, we have noted that these comparisons are being done elsewhere, however, it is difficult to try to compare results from one cohort to another, especially as we emerge from the COVID influence over results.
This year we thought we would do a simple comparison of entries for GCSE. The following table has been developed from data shown in Striking the balance – A review of 11–16 curriculum and assessment in England published by OCR:
Although these figures are very broad, it is good to see that D&T and food preparation and nutrition numbers are up this year. Overall, because there was a 4.8% increase in all GCSE entries this year, it means that D&T entries actually fell slightly, while food entries rose a little more than the general increase.
These figures do not take into account how many schools have moved their D&T provision into art and design. Entries for this were also slightly above the general increase, and may include some pupils that would have traditionally taken D&T.
Further detail on entries and results can be found on the DfE site:
Subject Summer 2023 Summer 2024 Percentage change in entries:
Increases and decreases of GCSE subject entries compared to total entries:
This edition of Futureminds has some fantastic articles from a wide range of contributors. If you would like to provide something for future editions or have an idea for something we could do some further work on, please get in touch: dt@cleapss.org.uk or use the comments and questions link, or Helpline.
Don’t forget that we have a wealth of past editions of Futureminds, all available from the Futureminds tab on the website.
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