Design and Technology gives young people the skills and abilities to engage positively with the designed and made world and to harness the benefits of technology. They learn how products and systems are designed and manufactured, how to be innovative and to make creative use of a variety of resources including digital technologies, to improve the world around them. We focus on a range of materials from textiles, timbers, plastics and metals through to smart and modern materials including electronics and bioplastics.
This breadth of study is also reflected in the use of traditional hand tools and workshop machinery alongside more modern processes such as laser cutting, 3D printing, laser image transfer and vinyl cutting. We have computers available in each of the 6 specialist teaching areas which allows students to access and use the world wide web and generate high quality design, written and research work using various different applications.
“The teaching of quality design and technology in our schools is a vital requirement for the country’s future in the 21st century. Design and technology is about making things that work well. Creating these things is hugely exciting: it is an inventive fun activity."
"For some reason Britons look down their noses at people who make things. They push intelligent people into the professions and into the media. Making things, however, should be an intelligent activity.”
James Dyson, British inventor, industrial designer, landowner and entrepreneur who founded Dyson Ltd
“British designers are celebrated all over the world for their creativity and innovation but the real strength of our industry has, and always will, lie in education. I have always believed that intelligent design is of fundamental importance, not only to the economy but to the quality of everyday life for ordinary people.”
Sir Terence Conran, Designer, Restaurateur and founder of Habitat and Conran
“Many young people in school today will not retire until 2070. It is our duty to give them the best possible education and prepare them for an uncertain future. Design and Technology supports the developing of key cross-disciplinary skills and systems thinking. It provides a unique platform within which to inspire young people to re-think, re-design and build a positive future.”
Dame Ellen Macarthur, made yachting history in 2005, when she became the fastest solo sailor to circumnavigate the globe, and remains the UK’s most successful offshore racer ever. She is founder of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and, in 2010, launched the The Ellen MacArthur Foundation which develops and promotes the idea of a circular economy.
“D&T is a crucial bedrock to a nation that once led the world in manufacturing and now treats it with a childish belief that the future is all about service and Intellectual property. People who do not understand the making of things or the design of things to make them fit for purpose will rarely invent marvellous things. We stand on the threshold of a new industrial revolution shaped by our need to build a sustainable future based on evolving new resource efficient technologies and developing low carbon energy supplies. In short, reshaping the logistics and consumption habits of a century of plenty (the 20th) to one of increasing leanness (the 21st). To say D&T is important for our future is like saying that breathing is useful!”
Tim Smit, Chief Executive & co-founder of the Eden Project