Welcome to the Design & Technology Department
Design and Technology is an inspiring, demanding and ultimately practical subject. It enables students to develop and make use of creativity and imagination. Students design and make products that solve real and relevant problems and meet real needs. They will develop these products both for themselves and for others necessitating them taking cognisance of both their own needs, wants and values and those of others. The subject brings together, and acts as the practical outworking of the learning from a wide range of other curriculum areas. The subject engenders and encourages resourcefulness, innovation and enterprise enabling learners to become those who have the potential to contribute to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of their community.
Aims
- To enable students to develop a critical understanding of the impact of designs and products on users, those around them, and the wider world – and thereby to become discerning consumers and potentially, responsible designers.
- To facilitate students in learning to balance the many, often conflicting demands of aesthetics, cost, function, material properties, material availability and processes.
- To encourage students to identify problems in the wider world and then to equip them to be able to looks for, develop and realise solutions to those problems.
- To give students the skills and confidence in practical activities that are typically very valued within the local community but which, without the D&T experience, they are very unlikely to have the opportunity to experience, practice and develop.
- To develop students understanding of, and experience with new technologies that are as relevant as possible to the modern world.
- To develop and encourage manufacturing skills with an emphasis on ensuring high quality.
- To prepare students for progression to further and future study relating to the Design & Technology world.
If you would like a tour of our department or would like to ask any questions regarding the work that our students complete, please don't hesitate to get in contact with the school.
Expectations
As I am sure you would both expect and agree we hold high expectations for all students who follow courses in Design and Technology. Students with be given challenging and aspirational targets and will then be supported in their effort to achieve these targets.
On a day to day and lesson by lesson basis the Design & Technology Department expects students to demonstrate all of the five key behaviours required for success and achievement. These are:
- Get involved and stay involved with what is going on.
- Know what success in the lesson will be.
- Work positively in your lessons
- Try more difficult things to stretch yourself and don’t be scared to get it wrong.
- Explain what you think as well as what you know.
Remember …..
“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.”
Charles F. Kettering (American engineer, inventor of the electric starter, 1876-1958)