Design and Technology
All girls in Years 7, 8 and 9 follow a foundation course of Design and Technology based on the National Curriculum programmes of study, though a degree of freedom is exercised. Girls are taught for one period a week in Years 7 and 8 and for three periods over two weeks in Year 9, and experience Design and Technology through a mixture of projects.
In Year 10, girls can choose to take Design and Technology to GCSE level. We offer two GCSE Design and Technology AQA Specifications – Design and Technology: Resistant Materials, and Design and Technology: Graphic Products. The girls are taught for four periods over a fortnight in Year 10 and five periods over a fortnight in Year 11.
In the Sixth Form A Level and IB are offered. At all times the girls are encouraged to spend some non-contact time within the department during the manufacturing part of their projects.
The Department is situated in a ground floor suite of three workshops, each capable of a mixed material approach. Each workshop has a range of graphics equipment and hand tools, computers that allow CAD/CAM work, and basic machinery.
We have an annual Year 8 trip to Legoland, Windsor to cover the Systems and Control aspect of the curriculum. The girls attend an hour-long workshop to be able to programme a robot to understand their commands through the Legoland systems programme. As the girls walk around the theme park they are thinking about the Input-Process-Output systems that are used to control the roller coasters and fill out worksheets to express their thoughts.
In Years 10 and 12 we take the girls to the Design Museum, London, to experience the Designer of the Year exhibition where they are able to vote for their favourite designer. The girls also attend a workshop in which designers work through the concept of products that are not what they seem, as they have hidden functions.
The school has been involved in the Engineering Education Scheme for Year 12 students over a number of years and this has provided a good insight into the world of work, giving the girls a chance to engage in a team building exercise that shows what industrial environments can be like in the modern age.
The Greenpower Scheme provides an environment for students from Years 7 to 11 to build, maintain and race a battery powered car in a competitive arena. The scheme involves a team of 12 students (6 drivers and 6 pit crew) who take part in heats throughout the year. The most successful teams are then invited to pit their skills against each other in a final at the Goodwood Race Circuit in Sussex.
