Design and Technology

Head of Department:  Mr S Gillett

At the core of our department is a belief that pupils and staff learn best by ‘doing’ and by allowing themselves to experiment and take risks, in a safe, positive and progressive learning environment. This is achieved through imaginative teaching that embraces new technologies and modern industrial processes, whilst retaining the best of traditional practices. At the heart of this, is the desire to deliver a curriculum in which students produce high quality, innovative outcomes which are fit for purpose. Students must learn about the social and ethical responsibilities of designers and the importance of managing finite resources with care.

As a department we hope to inspire, develop and support excellence in design and technology education for all through a curriculum which engages young people in iterative designing and making in order to create innovative, high quality products. Through this approach we also aim to develop other subject skills such as mathematics, science, engineering, ICT and art and encourage an awareness of the local surroundings and the impact design can have on our lives and the lives of others.

Increasingly we need to be aware of sustainable issues within design and technology and their impact on the wider world, constantly questioning the
decisions we make. This will help pupils become resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable individuals through problem solving skills and using failureas a learning process.

In this modern era it is impossible to ignore technological developments and so we aim to develop the pupils’ skills in CAD and CAM. In addition to cutting edge developments we strive to give the pupils an appreciation of design history and help them develop a critical understanding of its impact on modern thinking, gaining an understanding that design is an on-going cycle of evaluation and re-invention.

By the end of KS4 students at Priestlands:

  • Have developed a knowledge and understanding of the designed world
  • Have been given the opportunity to create innovative design and practical work
  • Have developed their technical knowledge and skills including CAD and CAM
  • Have developed a deep understanding of issues relating to sustainability
  • Have developed an awareness of different industries and the skills which will be relevant to them
  • Will, we hope, have developed a fascination for the subject and prepared themselves for a future within a fast developing technological society