Technology

Curriculum Overview – Technology

TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT AIMS

We in the Technology Department aim to develop lively, enquiring, creatively minded students with an aesthetic awareness. The Department delivers National Curriculum Technology (Design & Technology, Systems and Control and some ICT profile components).
Design and Technology is the purposeful use of knowledge, skills and physical resources to create products that meet a perceived need or opportunity.
It fosters learning to both design and make, and learning `through` designing and making.
Essentially, it is about providing opportunities for children to develop their capability to create high-quality products through combining their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding.

• James Dyson – Designers must be creative, adaptable and able to manage.
• Lord Salisbury – Future engineers and designers must be multi-disciplined, risk takers, innovators, team players and communicators.
• Jack Hynds (Jaguar) – Future designers must be flexible, risk takers, team players, innovators and able to accept challenges.
• Julia Barfield (London Eye) – Designing and architecture becomes one, we need designers who accept challenges and are determined to overcome them by working together to solve problems.

We aim to develop lively, enquiring and imaginative minds through a carefully structured range of contexts, themes, tasks and projects.
The contexts include those which will challenge pupils’ perceptions about the use of technology in other cultures and their own.
Key technological themes are intended to give breadth across Key Stage three with planning being undertaken by all members of the Technology areas.
Our projects develop aesthetic and technical awareness through the use of a wide range of materials and equipment.

What do we at All Saints` see as the essential criteria in the delivery of Design and Technology?

• Engender enthusiasm and interest in design, technology and engineering
• Show the creative and stimulating nature of technology
• Introduce new and relevant technologies to young people
• Relate the work to social and environmental issues as well as economic, functional and aesthetic
• Place emphasis on application of design and technology
• Engage young people in risk taking
• Develop skills in project management and team work
• Promote the value of learning to do and learning through doing
• Develop respect for design and technology in the National Curriculum

Our Courses

All Saints Technology Department Key stage 3

Design and Technology at All Saints is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject.
Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.
Pupils acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.
They will learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.
Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they will develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.

At All Saints, we value high-quality design and technology education that makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making.

Pupils will experience:
Y7:
Computer Aided Design and Manufacture, Electrics, Exploring and understanding both traditional and Smart Materials in compliant and resistant context, Materials Technology and Metal Processing and manipulation.

Textiles Technology in the manufacture of a product, using both hands-on and Computer Aided Manufacturing.

Food Technology, where pupils experience a range of food products utilising both traditional and modern catering methods

 

Y8:
Electronics, Plastics manipulation and forming, Working with a range of materials within a computer aided design and manufacture situation, using components, systems and processes to determine an output.

Textiles Technology in the design and manufacture of a bespoke item to solve the needs within society.

Food Technology that examines the impact of food on our health and wellbeing through nutritional appreciation, as well as practical activities to enhance this understanding

When designing, making and evaluating, KS3 pupils are taught to:

Designing
· use research and exploration, such as the study of different cultures, to identify and understand user needs
· identify and solve their own design problems and understand how to reformulate problems given to them
· develop specifications to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that respond to needs in a variety of situations
· use a variety of approaches to generate creative ideas and avoid stereotypical responses
· develop and communicate design ideas using annotated sketches, detailed plans, 3-D and mathematical modelling, oral and digital presentations and computer-based tools

Making· select from and use specialist tools, techniques, processes, equipment and machinery precisely, including computer-aided manufacture
· select from and use a wider, more complex range of materials, components and ingredients, taking into account their properties

Evaluating
· analyse the work of past and present professionals and others to develop and broaden their understanding
· investigate new and emerging technologies
· test, evaluate and refine their ideas and products against a specification, taking into account the views of intended users and other interested groups
· understand developments in design and technology, its impact on individuals, society and the environment, and the responsibilities of designers, engineers and technologists.

DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY TEXTILES TECHNOLOGY

Outline of the course

✷ Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Paul Smith, Jimmy Choo, just a few of the contemporary designers responsible for today’s fashions – how do they do it?
✷ How are ‘smart’ materials used to solve both fashion and manufacturing problems
✷ How does science provide glamour and technical vision in our modern fabric designs?
✷ Can I use a range of modern tools and equipment that will give me the skills to progress beyond GCSE?

These and other questions are answered in this tremendous new GCSE Design and Technology course: aims to promote the careful, thoughtful and skilful use of Textiles Technology. This course provides an innovative and imaginative qualification rewarding both talent and attention and reflects the contemporary use of both Materials and Information Technology. Candidates have the opportunity to work with design concepts and materials in ways which recognise the need for wise choices being made in terms of; work related learning, the environment and the whole social fabric of modern life.
Assessment: The qualification is worth a full GCSE ranging from 9-1 and is divided into:
Unit 1 – Written Paper  – Theory (50%)
Unit 2 – NEA- Designing and Making (50%)
Candidates will have personal access to well qualified and dedicated teaching staff as well as superb on-line personalised e-learning resources which are accessed both at school and at home to ensure high quality learning  achievement and success.

Why study Design and Technology- Textiles?
This motivating and remarkable GCSE specification in design and technology will encourage candidates to be enthused, encouraged and challenged by following a broad, consistent, rewarding and valuable course of study, and to gain an insight into related sectors, such as manufacturing and textiles design.

DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY RESISTANT MATERIALS

Outline of the course
✷ From the Space Shuttle to the 2012 Olympic Stadium, how do we use materials in the design and construction of modern products?
✷ Can I access computer aided design and manufacture that are used to make a product
✷  How are modern products developed and utilised in industry – can I use them myself?
✷ Can I use a range of modern tools and equipment that will give me the skills to progress beyond GCSE?

These and other questions will be answered in this tremendous new GCSE Design and Technology course: Resistant Materials aims to promote the careful, thoughtful and skilful use of Resistant Materials;
This course provides an innovative and imaginative qualification rewarding both flair and thought and reflects the contemporary use of both materials and Information Technology.
Candidates have the opportunity to work with design concepts and materials in ways which recognise the need for wise choices being made in terms of; work related learning, the environment and the whole social fabric of modern life.
Assessment: The qualification is worth a full GCSE ranging from 9-1 and is divided into:
Unit 1 – Written Paper  –Theory  (50%)
Unit 2 – NEA- Designing and Making (50%)
Candidates will have personal access to well qualified and dedicated teaching staff as well as superb on-line personalised e-learning resources which are accessed both at school and at home to ensure high quality learning  achievement and success.
Why study Resistant Materials?
This inspirational GCSE specification in design and technology will encourage candidates to be inspired, motivated and challenged by following a broad, coherent, satisfying and worthwhile course of study, and to gain an insight into related sectors, such as; design, construction, manufacturing and engineering.
It will prepare candidates to make informed decisions about further learning opportunities and career choices, e.g. careers in Engineering, Science, Technology,  Construction, Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Product and Industrial Design and all vocational careers.

GCSE – FOOD PREPARATION AND NUTRITION

Outline of the course

Our GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition specification sets out the knowledge, understanding and skills required to cook and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating.

The majority of the specification is delivered through preparation and making activities. Students must be able to make the connections between theory and practice to apply their understanding of food and nutrition to practical preparation.

Topics and themes have been grouped to help you teach the specification, but these are not intended as a route through the specification, you can teach the content in any order. The topics are:

Food, nutrition and health

Food science

Food safety

Food choice

Food provenance.

This new GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition is an exciting and creative course which focuses on practical cooking skills to ensure students develop a thorough understanding of nutrition, food provenance and the working characteristics of food materials. At its heart, this qualification focuses on nurturing students’ practical cookery skills to give them a strong understanding of nutrition.

Upon completion of this course, students will be qualified to go on to further study, or embark on an apprenticeship or full time career in the catering or food industries.

How it’s assessed

Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes- 100 marks-  50% of GCSE

Questions

Multiple choice questions (20 marks)

Five questions each with a number of sub questions (80 marks)

Non-exam assessment (NEA) –  50% of GCSE

Task 1: Food investigation (30 marks)

Students’ understanding of the working characteristics, functional and chemical properties of ingredients.

Practical investigations are a compulsory element of this NEA task.

Task 2: Food preparation assessment (70 marks)

Students’ knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to the planning, preparation, cooking, presentation of food and application of nutrition related to the chosen task.

Students will prepare, cook and present a final menu of three dishes within a single period of no more than three hours, planning in advance how this will be achieved.

Candidates will have personal access to well qualified and dedicated teaching staff as well as superb on-line personalised e-learning resources which are accessed both at school and at home to ensure high quality learning  achievement and success.

 

A Level Product Design
In this course, students will develop an understanding of the physical and mechanical properties of a broad range of materials and components. Students will understand why these are used in specific applications with particular emphasis on the life-cycle of products including manufacture, use and disposal. Coursework projects provide an opportunity for students to learn about the use of computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacture (CAM), and the use of quality control measures. As the course develops, knowledge and understanding will be developed through coursework and a further study of how materials and components play a major part in the evolution, selection and application of materials for the manufacture of modern products.
Career paths: Civil Engineering, Design Engineering, Architect, Mechanical Engineering, Product and Industrial Designer

A-Level Fashion and Textiles
In taking this subject you will have the opportunity to study and work with a variety of textile materials that enable you to understand the working characteristics, physical properties, cost and availability which influence the choice of materials in real and contemporary design situations. Knowledge will be gained of a wide range of components used in the making of textile products. As well as acquiring a broad knowledge of industrial manufacturing systems used in the manufacture of textile materials and products for industrial applications. Through critical analysis of specific products, you will understand how materials and components are worked to become parts of a design realisation, such as toiles and prototypes. You will be encouraged to explore practical applications of processing methods as appropriate to the products you will be designing and making. You will learn how production systems for the industrial manufacture of finished prototypes are taken into consideration in terms of quality assurance and quality control as well as having the opportunity to work in both two- and three-dimensional forms, engaging in hands-on practical creative activities in which your own design ideas take forms, which show both originality and excellence.
Career paths: Fashion Designer, Textiles Technologist, Industrial   Designer, Manufacturing Technologies, Fashion Buyer, Fashion Stylist, Public Relations, Merchandiser.