Skip to content ↓

Design and Technology (Brentry)

Intent

At St Matthias Design and Technology aims to develop students as designers, giving them the tools to analyse and deconstruct, design and develop their ideas as well as a range of manufacturing techniques. We strive to overcome barriers that students may have faced in the past by teaching them problem solving skills and different approaches to tasks which will help with any future Technology qualifications they wish to gain. One of the biggest barriers that some students face is a fear of failure when designing and at St Matthias we give students a safe space in which to fully explore their ideas.

Failure is so much more interesting because you learn from it  - James Dyson

We follow the Key Stage 3 Design & Technology curriculum and complete project units of work. Projects include Chair design and manufacture, video game controller prototyping and computer aided design to solve design problems.

 

Implementation

Design and Technology is a creative subject that encourages a more ‘hands on’ way of working when designing and manufacturing products. Students are engaged through carefully tailored activities which take account of their strengths to allow them to express their ideas independently. Alongside practical activities Design and Technology theory is introduced to allow students to better appreciate design in the wider world. Regular class discussions allow students to explore ideas and observations with guidance and this is complemented with written work which builds on their specialist Design and Technology vocabulary.

The workshop at Brentry opened in September 2022 we are continuing to develop the practical curriculum to skill and engage students.

 

Impact

St Matthias students sit a baseline assessment during their induction period which has been carefully designed to assess all areas within Design and Technology. This is used as a starting point to identify gaps in knowledge that can addressed during lessons. Impact is measured through student engagement and regular assessment and feedback. With the workshop now open we have noticed a huge improvement in engagement as students learn skills that may be really relevant to them in their working lives.