About Bow School › Departments
Design Technology
General
The Design and Technology (DT) Department has made significant progress over the past 3 years and is building on this to further improve the attainment both at Key stage 3 and 4.
Schemes of work have been reviewed and written in line with the Key stage 3 strategies, Assessment for Learning (AfL) and this remains an on-going priority.
During the last 2 years, the use of ICT in DT has been extended by the provision of a new-state-of-the-art ICT suite for the department. Significant progress has been made in assessment and in the use of data to monitor progress as well as implementing appropriate intervention strategies for our students. The Every Child Matters policy, where all students’ needs are equally important, is a departmental priority.
Curriculum
The Design and Technology Department has two Key Stage 4 GCSE options. They are Graphic Products (GP) and Resistant Materials (RM). We currently follow the Edexcel full course syllabus for both GP and RM at Key Stage 4. In addition to GP and RM, there is a Construction option leading to the award of the City and Guilds certificate. The DT department liaises with a college for the delivery of the construction programme. Students following the construction option also study the GCSE short course in RM.
At Key Stage 3 all pupils study Graphic Communications, Resistant Materials, Structures and Basic Electronics and Control Systems.
Excursions
Excursions are valued as important learning experiences for our students. We have worked with the Open House Trust on a number of visits that are linked to some designing and making projects within our schemes of work. In addition, the department regularly organizes industrial visits to the construction industry with hands-on experience for our year 9 students. We are looking to further develop this area through wider contacts including our departmental governor link.
Staffing
The departmental team is small but very committed, hardworking and supportive where the education and fulfilment is a priority. The department consists of:
- Head of Design and Technology – Teacher of GP, RM and Construction Liaison: Dr Moses Olagunju
- Teacher of Resistant Materials: Jack Reay
- Teacher of Resistant Material: Patrick Ormrod
- Teacher of Resistant Materials: Richard Alvarez
- Full time Technician: Layefa Agwosi
Resources
The DT department is well resourced. There are 4 teaching rooms in total. One of the rooms is a state-of-the-art ICT suite that the DT department shares with the Art department. All rooms are equipped with interactive white boards.
We currently use the following software packages: Pro-Desktop version 8.0, Flowol 3, Goggle Sketch-up, AspexTab MST and Techsoft 2D design in our teaching of Computer aided Design (CAD), Control Systems and packaging respectively. All rooms are well equipped with the tools and machines to teach both GP and RM up to Key Stage 4 Edexcel full syllabus. A range of textbooks are available for our subject options and there is a growing library of DVDs.
- Year 7: Four units of work per academic year – Health and Safety module with Graphic Communication, Plastics Key tag, Action person and Jigsaw puzzle.
- Year 8: Four units of work per academic year – Graphic communication, Steady Hand Game, Electronics and Structures.
- Year 9: Four units – Graphical communication, Designing and Making process, Mechanism project and Product Analysis via assembly /disassembly of common products.
KS4: Full course Edexcel Syllabus - GCSE in Graphic Products (GP) and Resistant Materials (RM).
GP: Coursework is 60% of the GCSE grade. Projects include Board Game, Point-of-Sale-Display (POSD) unit, Modelling a restaurant, etc, using mainly compliant materials.
RM: Coursework is 60% of the GCSE grade. Projects include personalized storage units for jewellery, DVDs + CDs storage solution, seating with storage unit, etc using wood, plastics and metals.