Design & Technology Curriculum Intent
Design and Technology lessons at Colmers School consist of a range of creative, imaginative and innovative experiences. These design and practical based activities enable all students to build on all aspects of prior learning regardless of their starting point.
Our carefully planned curriculum provides our students with the opportunity to ‘know more’ so that they can engage positively with materials, components, products and technologies in the world around them.
In lessons, students will be encouraged to foster an intellectual inquisitiveness and understanding of the impact of Design and Technology on daily life and the wider world. Our students will be able to ‘do more’ by developing their practical skills and a critical understanding of how and why things work the way they do.
As our students progress through the Design and Technology curriculum. they will become independent and ‘forward thinking’ learners who are well prepared to understand and actively engage in the designed and made world in which they are living.
By the end of key stage 3 students are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes, enabling them to ‘be more’ by actively contributing to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of themselves and their community.
Key Stage 3
The following knowledge and skills are what we aim to enable our students to know and do by the end of each year of study.
Year 7
Students explore 'All about Plastics'
Students will Know More
about the issues surrounding plastic pollution.
About the ways that we can lead a more sustainable life and lessen our impact on the environment.
About how plastics are categorised and through investigation understand why there are so many different types of plastic within each.
About the tools and processes used to mark out, shape, cut and surface finish polymers.
About the iterative design process to continuously improve a concept, design or product.
Students will be able to Do More
By working in stimulating contexts that provide a range of opportunities and draw on the local ethos, community and wider world, identifying needs and opportunities.
About working towards changes in the use of single use plastics and working towards a more sustainable environment using new and emerging technologies to replace plastic use.
To limit their impact on the environment by examining planned obsolescence and making informed choices as consumers before purchasing products that are not repairable by design.
By being able to select appropriate materials for a particular function based on its working properties.
To limit their impact on the environment by exploring techniques to recycle and reuse materials.
Students will be able to Be More
Respond with ideas and products, challenging expectations where appropriate and considering aesthetic, technical, cultural, health, social, emotional, and environmental issues.
By working confidently and independently and safely with a range of polymer materials to create products of high quality.
By being equipped with the knowledge and understanding to make, share, justify and discuss value judgements with respect to their own informed decisions.
Prepared to live and work in the designed and made world.
Resilient, independent, lifelong learners with the ability to solve problems using a range of transferable skills.
Year 8
Students explore 'All about Timber'
Students will Know More
About how timbers are categorised and through investigation understand why we use different timbers for different purposes.
About the issues of deforestation climate change and the sustainability of timber through managing responsible sources.
About where timber is sourced from and the ways in which it is prepared in readiness for use by consumers.
About the ways that we can lead a more sustainable life and lessen our impact on the environment.
About the tools and processes used to mark out, shape, cut and surface finishing timbers.
About improving the performance of timbers by the addition of a surface treatment or finish to protect and enhance the appearance.
By studying the work of designers / design movements as a starting point to help inform the design of a new product.
Students will be able to Do More
About working towards changes we can make in the use of timber to ensure our dependence on forests is responsibly maintained for all, for ever.
By being able to select appropriate materials for a particular function based on its working properties.
To limit their impact on the environment by making informed choices as consumers before purchasing products that do not support responsible use of materials.
To limit their impact on the environment by exploring techniques to recycle and reuse materials.
Students will be able to Be More
Respond with ideas and products, challenging expectations where appropriate and considering aesthetic, technical, cultural, health, social, emotional, and environmental issues.
By working confidently and independently and safely with a range of timber to create products of high quality.
By being equipped with the knowledge and understanding to make, share, justify and discuss value judgements with respect to their own informed decisions.
Prepared to live and work in the designed and made world.
Resilient, independent, lifelong learners with the ability to solve problems using a range of transferable skills.
Year 9
Students explore 'All about CADCAM and BASIC ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS'
Students will Know More
about how working drawings provide technical information to a manufacturer so that they know how to make the product.
about how assembly drawings help to explain how parts of a product fit together.
about how more advanced electrical and electronic systems can be powered and used in their products [for example, circuits with heat, light, sound and movement as inputs and outputs].
about how electrical circuits are represented in a graphical form using symbols.
about how CAD is one of the most popular ways to create and present 2D and 3D design ideas.
Students will be able to Do More
by appropriately communicating designs using a range of technical drawing techniques such as third angle orthographic projection and assembly drawings.
By being able to apply their knowledge of electronic systems to select appropriate components to build a circuit that responds to different inputs.
by being able to use a range of industry recognised CAD software to create 2D and 3D designs and generate rendered illustrations of their 3D CAD models.
Students will be able to Be More
