Key Stage 3
In Years 7 and 8 students rotate the four subject areas in Design Technology and will undertake a project or a combined project in each of the following specialisms:
- Product Design
- Textiles Design
- Food Technology
- ICT
In Year 9, all students complete a combined project in: Electronics, ICT and Product Design The projects are designed to cover all aspects of the Design Technology National Curriculum, as well as provide students with core, transferable ICT skills. At the end of Semester 1, Year 9 students will make their option choices, they can choose from a range of pathways within DT. Please see individual subject areas for more information.
Year 7: Pencil Box
During the Product Design rotation, students will be introduced to the school workshop and taught how to use a wide range of tools and machinery safely. Through the manufacture of a pencil box, students will explore a range of materials and develop an understanding of their working properties and characteristics. Students will learn to apply tolerances during the development of their prototype to achieve an accurate and successful outcome.
Year 8: Mechanical Toy
During this rotation students will learn about mechanical systems through the manufacture of a mechanical toy. They will be learn how levers, linkages and cams work and how to convert rotary motion into reciprocating motion. Students will build upon their prior knowledge and skills of materials and specialist techniques, as well as explore the impact products have on the environment. Students will learn to develop prototypes that respond to the needs and wants of their client and be able to communicate ideas in 3D oblique and isometric.
Year 7: Chefs Apprentice Project
In this project students learn how to use the Food Technology room safely and confidently. They practice a variety of cooking techniques making both sweet and savory food products using a wide range of ingredients. Students are shown how to use the equipment in the room and will develop confidence and skill using basic equipment and the hob, grill and oven. Students are encouraged to evaluate their cooking using sensory analysis and think about how they would change the recipe if they were to make the dish again. We ask that all students bring their ingredients and a take home container to the food tech room before school on the day of the scheduled practical lesson.
Year 8: Designing for Others
Project Outline: In this project students explore different target groups including those with special dietary needs and the need to follow healthy eating guidelines. A range of sweet and savory dishes are made, building on the practical skills learnt in Year 7. Evaluations encourage students to write about the changes they made during practical tasks and developing their ideas to suit different dietary requirements. Presentation of food products is very important. Students are encouraged to think more independently about how to present their own work professionally. We ask that all students bring their ingredients and a take home container to the food tech room before school on the day of the scheduled practical lesson.
Year 7: Country Themed Pillow Project
In this project, you will be designing and making a pillow themed on ‘countries and cultures from around the world’. During this project, you will learn to research using a wide variety of sources, taking inspiration from current and past designers. You will learn how to create designs using different creative techniques. You will also learn how to use a variety of hand and machine techniques to create your pillowcase. These include dying, printing and sewing.
Year 8: Environmental Patterned Fabrics Project
Two key developments in the Textile industry are sustainability and the use of CAD/CAM (computer aided design and manufacture) this project is aims to bring the two together. First, you will learn why it is important for designers to consider the environment and how we can make ‘greener’ products. You will cover many different aspects of sustainability with-in the textiles industry, including environmental affects, moral and ethical issues, what is currently being done in industry and how we can improve. Next you will learn how to use desk-top publishing and vectorising software (CAD) to produce a range of fabric patterns that will encourage us to be more sustainable. The patterns you design must be suitable for CAM production, using the laser cutter to make block prints and stencils.
Year 7: ICT in School
The purpose of this project is to introduce the students to all the key programmes they will be using whilst at Hugh Christie and how to get the most from it at school and home. Students will learn computer architecture, organised filing of work and internet safety. Students will also use and apply various software application from Office 365, such as Outlook, OneDrive, Word, PowerPoint and Excel. The skills learnt in this project are transferable across all school subjects.
Year 9: Steady Hand Game
The steady hand game incorporates three different elements that will conclude in students taking home a fun and interesting game they have built themselves and also marketed.
The electronic section will give students an understanding of different systems, their inputs, processes and outputs. They will learn the purpose of different components and how to read their values e.g. resistors, Logic gates, Boolean gates and binary. Students will also learn about how to construct circuits with soldering, run a circuit simulation and programme components.
During the ICT section, students will be use Excel for creating charts and graphs to explain their steady hand game market research. They will also use Excel to formulate the costing of the game. They will then create game instructions and problem solving tips using Word. To help promote the steady hand game to potential clients, students will make and present a PowerPoint presentation.
In Product design students will use their research to write a clear specification of what the game should look like. After designing and modelling potential ideas, the final product casing and decoration will be made using the laser cutter, vacuum forming and MDF construction.