Design & Technology
Key Stage 3
Throughout KS3 we study and design and make with a range of different materials including metals, timbers and polymers. Most projects have a personalisation element, which is explored and developed through The Design Process (Situation, Design Brief, Research, Specification, Design and development of ideas, Manufacturing, Evaluation). Pupils get to take home what they make, and they are assessed on both their Knowledge and their Skills.
Key Stage 4
Edexcel- Design and Technology
50% exam (1hr 45mins)
50% Design and Make project (NEA/ coursework)
The GCSE in Design and Technology enables students to understand and apply iterative design processes through which they explore, create and evaluate a range of outcomes. The qualification enables students to use creativity and imagination to design and make prototypes that solve real and relevant problems, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.
It gives students opportunities to apply knowledge from other disciplines, including mathematics, science, art and design, computing and the humanities. Students will acquire subject knowledge in design and technology that builds on Key Stage 3, incorporating knowledge and understanding of different materials and manufacturing processes in order to design and make, with confidence, prototypes in response to issues, needs, problems and opportunities.
Students learn how to take design risks, helping them to become resourceful, innovative and enterprising citizens. They should develop an awareness of practices from the creative, engineering and manufacturing industries. Through the critique of the outcomes of design and technology activity, both historic and present day, students should develop an understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world and understand that high-quality design and technology is important to the creativity, culture, sustainability, wealth and wellbeing of the nation and the global community.