Team:

There is a team of teachers delivering these lessons across the different curriculum areas, with the support of an experienced team of teaching assistants.

The Design Technology (DT) Department is split into three separate areas of study per term:

1. Food Technology
2. Resistant Materials & Control
3. Textiles

Achievement & Progress:

During KS3, Design Technology lessons are rotated on a carousel basis termly between food technology, textiles and resistant materials & control.

Pupils develop skills in a variety of areas, specific to the area they are working in. Pupils learn about developing their own initial ideas into final pieces of work, evaluating and setting themselves targets for the next project. Within food technology they develop skills that can be taken forward into everyday life.

Curriculum Overview:

Food Technology:

The aims of the Food Technology Team are to promote and encourage an understanding of a healthy balanced diet, whilst practising a range of cooking methods, techniques and skills. This provides the students with the confidence, knowledge and independence to plan, prepare and cook a range of meals and recipes. An emphasis is placed upon the practical development of skills and knowledge. Students will tend to cook most weeks whilst covering food technology.

There are a range of cooking skills which are taught all through KS3 which are refined and developed as the students build upon their cooking experiences. Some of these skills include:

Using basic tools & equipment; safe & hygienic working practices; weighing; measuring; preparing foodstuffs; using an oven, grill & hob; peeling, chopping and grating; boiling; rubbing in; creaming; pastry making.

If pupils wish to develop their skills further within food technology, there is an accredited option available in KS4 of hospitality & catering.

Textiles:

This area of design technology allows pupils to investigate a variety of materials and plan, design and review their own designs with different outcomes each year. Pupils have the opportunity to experiment with a variety of materials and skills to be able to take forward into their own final designs and outcomes. Pupil are also taught how to sew using hand stitching and sewing machines. Pupils are shown a variety of stitches to enhance their work including embroidery techniques.  

Pupils also have the opportunity to develop their own designs and ideas using the cricut machine which enables them to heat transfer designs to their work.

Resistant Materials and Control:

This area gives pupils opportunities to try a range of materials to create personalised items and to learn and develop new skills in each area. Focusing on three areas of Plan, Do and Review – pupils learn to follow the same concept across all areas of DT. Control is also covered within ICT using probots; programming probots and movement sequences; components of a computer – input/ output; hardware/software and storage devices.

Overview of Key Stage three rotations

 

At Oaklands we endeavour to implement key skills to our pupils so they are able to progress into adult life with the knowledge and understanding in different areas of design.