Technology
KS3
Key Themes
Sustainability: How to become a sustainable designer, alternative materials and processes that can reduce the negative impact on the environment.
Identity and Culture: Defining who are we and what we do. Learning how we represent other cultures respectfully.
Practical life skills: Allowing students an opportunity to develop skills that can support them beyond the classroom. Allowing students to become confident problem solvers, using a wide range of materials and equipment.
Local Area: Researching the local community and the wealth of resources surrounding our local area. Consider the use of local artists from Grimsby, Cleethorpes such as Francesca Young who celebrate the beautiful area in which we live in.
Health and Safety: Understanding how to operate a range of tools and equipment safely, allowing students to become familiar with risk assessing their tasks and working safely independently.
Design process: In the classroom and industry, designers and manufacturers follow the design process; to research, design, make, test and evaluate. These skills allow for a strong foundation to achieve success through constant reflection and development.
Health and Nutrition: To understand the importance of a healthy life through understanding nutrition and body requirements. The negative impact of not following a healthy nutritious diet. Students will then be able to make better choices within their projects and understanding of ingredients.
Industry and Manufacturing: Design and Technology encompasses many industrial processes. To understand how products are produced in industry especially those locally. Allowing students to understand how they can have an impact on the wider world post education.
Material knowledge: Students will be continuing developing their understanding of a range of materials. This will allow students to make better choices of materials when designing products to understand their properties and suitability to their products.
Year 7
Throughout Year 7 our curriculum establishes a knowledge rich foundation and development of skills that students can utilise as they progress through their study of design and technology.
By operating on a carousel students will be introduced to a wide range of materials and how to manufacture projects using different tools and equipment. Studying resistant materials, food technology and textiles students discover the design process and how this is used throughout projects.
In year 7 our first projects cover an introduction to the material types, allowing a foundation of core knowledge to help students handle the material safely and creatively. Starting with a range of hand skills students develop confidence allowing accuracy but most importantly safely.
In textiles they are create a decorative cultural panel, questioning what is cultural and how can this be celebrated through a range of decorative processes. Students explore a range of practical skills that will allow students opportunities to explore textures, materials and processes in a creative way. In their technology lessons pupils create a cultural picture frame embedding their knowledge of culture and identity, learning a range of practical skills creating their project. In food technology students begin with their knowledge of diets and the various food groups. Developing this through practical application of preparing a range of dishes. Pupils apply this knowledge produce a dish that allows students to adapt recipes to compliment dietary requirements, this could be through life choices or cultural/religious reasoning.
Year 8
Our Year 8 curriculum continues to build upon the knowledge established throughout Year 7 and students will continue to explore develop these skills as they progress with their projects.
In textiles students will develop a focus on construction skills, utilising their knowledge of tools and equipment they are to design and manufacture a bag. The inspiration for their design of their bag will be inspired by local artists such as Francesca Young, Eve Leoni and BYGO a range of Grimsby and Cleethorpes artists whose work celebrates the area in which we live.
In technology students are looking at motion and analytical of how things work. Progressing their hand practical skills developed in year 7 they are challenging themselves to create a functional automata toy.
During their food rotation students are revisiting different cultures and exploring their local produce. Understanding how different countries celebrate their different climates with their cuisine. Pupils then use their ability to design, analyse, and justify to develop a dish to celebrate their chosen culture.
Year 9
Year 9 is designed to continue student's progression in their study of Design and technology.
Students have developed a knowledge rich awareness throughout their course of materials and the subject areas. Through the nature of the subject, this fosters a growth mind-set. Through deep questioning and the sequencing of theory throughout their project's students develop their skills across the years. Students challenge themselves to develop their understanding of how to be creative and through well considered design decisions and solutions.
In textiles students are focusing on challenging their construction skills to a produce a festival hat, this project is focused on developing their practical life skills into a creative designed product. The research into current designers, allowing students to make innovative design decisions.
Students in technology are crafting pencil boxes demonstrating different wood joints and finishing. Allowing students to have a foundation of skills in preparation for their future.
In food technology students look at the ever-growing popularity of street food, what is driving this locally as street food is becoming more popular in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, with a lot of local markets celebrating different street foods from around the world. Students then design and create using their skills a dish that could be sold at a local food market.
KS4
There are two courses offered at KS4:
- GCSE Technology (AQA)
- Level 1/2 Vocational Award in Hospitality and Catering (Eduqas)
The Technology curriculum has been designed for students to develop their knowledge in various processes both decorative and constructive. Students have opportunities to experience technical drawing to allow students a breadth of understanding how to communicate design decisions replicating the work in industry. The knowledge covered builds on the KS3 curriculum with key themes continually revisited over both key stages.
In Hospitality and Catering, students experience a wide range of cooking processes allowing them to embed core skills in the preparation of ingredients. The hospitality and catering sector is one of the largest sectors of employment in the local area, the subject specific knowledge developed in this course will offer lifelong employment opportunities for our students.
