Curriculum Intent and Rationale
The Design and Technology department at King Edward VI Five Ways School are committed to delivering a stimulating curriculum accessible to all, which provides the broadest possible range of opportunities. Students will be encouraged to be self-motivated, inquisitive, and confident learners with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
We encourage our students to not be afraid of making mistakes, tackle problems, and develop their resilience. We want students to make good life choices and lead healthy lifestyles. We help students manage large projects with ongoing feedback and time monitoring to help them focus and forward plan. We intend for students to have basic life skills in cooking, food, and nutrition including knowledge of foods for different people such as religious beliefs and health issues. We encourage sustainability and to be a responsible end user / designer.
We aim to ensure that students develop technical and practical competencies as well as the wider skills valued by employers. We aim for students to become responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.
We offer a range of extracurricular opportunities including the Greenpower Race Team, the Industrial Cadet Gold Award, and the Arkwright Scholarship. Students in FPN have participated in Master Chef competitions and visits to university, including the College of Food where students are able to experience cooking in a professional kitchen environment. We have completed many trips to Jaguar Land Rover to provide students the information and opportunities available in the fields of engineering. We make use of guest speakers from industry to provide real insight into the world of work and fields of engineering.
We are proud of our students’ achievements, with many students moving onto degree apprenticeships, university courses and placements at prestigious Universities and companies in STEM fields.
Implementing our curriculum
Key Stage 3
By the end of Key Stage 3, we want the students to have the necessary subject knowledge and practical skills to confidently tackle a design context or problem independently. This will provide the perfect start for KS4 if they opt for the subject in year 9. In Food technology, students will learn how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in students will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables students to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.
The three-year KS3 offers time to explore the subject at depth. In DT students learn a wide range of topics and complete various projects including common materials knowledge, materials processes, designing and drawing skills, research and evaluation skills, electronics, systems & control including gears and mechanical control, Computer Aided Design, simulations, safely and confidently use a wide range or tools and machines, identify a wide range of diverse designers to inspire design and able to apply basic maths and science principles to given problems. Applied maths, science skills are taught throughout all key stages. Each year practical and design skills include some repetition to reinforce learning and are progressively harder. For example, CAD and 3d printing using ‘Skecthup’ in year 8 through to Fusion 360 and industry standard CAD in year 9. This has significantly helped build confidence and quality of work in KS4 and KS5 CAD and CAM to allow students to develop realistic and high-quality outcomes when solving problems.
In FPN students create a range of foods using skills that develop each year and learn about the importance of food safety and hygiene, applying this to their practical activities throughout KS3. Working with a range of ingredients and preparing them in a variety of ways throughout KS3 helps to develop student’s creativity and thinking skills, especially when recipes need to be adapted. Students learn about diet, nutrition and health, food provenance, food science and food choice as well as utilising a wide range of electrical equipment in practical lessons. The design of the KS3 allows students to use learning from previous years to develop their practical and theoretical skills. In year 7 students learn about the importance of fruit in the diet and are introduced to the function of nutrients as a whole. This develops in year 8 where students spend the entire rotation looking at a range of nutrients functions, food sources and an effect of excess or deficiency. This knowledge is then used in Year 9 to identify the different nutritional needs in key life stages. We plan and encourage the students to use a wide range of kitchen equipment confidently and safely. Students are encouraged to work independently to apply knowledge and develop their own meals and recipes.
Key Stage 4
Specification: Design and Technology: Edexcel
Food Preparation and Nutrition: AQA
By the end of Key stage 4 in DT, we intend students will gain significant specialist subject knowledge in the use of timbers, tools and equipment associated with timbers. Students will be able to tackle an open context and solve a real-life problem. Avoid stereotypical responses and create innovative ideas. Re-visit some KS3 topics to enhance depth and understanding through repetition and recall. In FPN students will possess the technical skill and knowledge to form a hypothesis for a project and expected outcomes. Students will gain knowledge and understanding of nutrition, nutrients, food science and preparation to conduct NEA independently as well the opportunity to complete an external certificate in Food Safety Level 2.
Key Stage 5
Specification: OCR Design Engineering
We aim to make sure DT students to have the Skills and knowledge to complete the KS5 confidently and tackle complex problems. At the start of KS5 some students opt for the subject with no experience of DT at KS4 meaning some topics overlap from KS4 and are reinforced at KS5. This helps students practise their skills to a greater depth and increase their level of independence. This all feeds in the vision of students becoming independent problem solvers with the ability to apply maths and physics principles when designing and making. Students will design and manufacture high quality prototypes and outcomes. Students will project manage and produce a high-quality portfolio of work to help prepare them when they move into a field of STEM at University or the world of work.