Design Technology
Ethos and Aims
Technology is developing all the time and keeping up with fast-paced change is essential. The jobs people will be doing tomorrow will be radically different from many of those done today, so preparing students for the future is crucial. D&T and Engineering at Linton Village College opens doors to a wide range of careers in the creative, engineering and manufacturing industries as well as medicine, law and computer science.
Design and Technology is purposeful, exciting and ambitious. Studying D&T involves learning about designing and manufacturing, using knowledge and skills to design and make new and better solutions to real problems. This is done individually or in teams, working with appropriate materials for a design brief. The knowledge and understanding our students acquire from our Design & Engineering projects are also transferable skills that they can apply to solving real issues in the real world. Skills learnt through collaborative work, iterative design approaches, problem solving, planning and time management are highly valued by employers throughout a vast range of career options.
KS3 Curriculum Content
Through our KS3 units, students will learn to design, make and evaluate a range of projects that cover a range of different Design and Technology skills. Looking to the real-world students will learn how Design and Technology has an important place in society. In year 9 students will start to also understand how Engineering can also be a pathway in the Design and Technology curriculum and that it is also an option for GCSE alongside Design and Technology GCSE.
Year 7 Projects
Cuggly project – students learn sewing and pattern making skills as well as the importance of recycling and upcycling for a more sustainable world.
Wooden Bird Box project – honing accuracy and hand working skills to shape and join materials.
Year 8 Projects
Chocolate Bar project – students learn how to design a chocolate bar wrapper using CAD and make a chocolate bar mould. This project teaches both designing and making and manufacturing skills.
Mechanical toy – this project teaches students how mechanical systems work and how to use CAD CAM to create a finished outcome.
Year 9 Projects
Games console design – this project teaches students the importance of inclusive design and show how both the iterative design and modelling processes are integral to effectiveness of designing.
Speaker project – with the inclusion of some engineering skills this project will introduce students to designing with electronic systems.
Jewellery project – this project teaches students both engineering and designing skills and how to work and design with metals
KS4 Curriculum Content
AQA Design & Technology GCSE
This option prepares students to participate confidently and successfully in an increasingly technological world. Students will gain awareness and learn from wider influences on Design and Technology including historical, social, cultural, environmental and economic factors. Students will get the opportunity to work creatively when designing and making, and also applying technical and practical expertise.
Through the course, students study core technical designing and making principles, including a broad range of design processes, materials, techniques and equipment. They will also have the opportunity to study specialist technical principles in greater depth.
The qualification is linear, meaning that students will sit their exam and submit their non-exam assessment project (NEA) at the end of the course. The exam will account for 50% of their final grade and the NEA project will account for the remaining 50%. More information can be found at the link below.
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/design-and-technology/gcse/design-and-technology-8552/introduction