DT & Crafts

No limits... Just possibilities

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Design Technology supports students with the investigation and selection of materials and equipment to develop the students’ designing and making skills. At St. Joseph’s this is through Resistant Materials and Food Technology.

All the younger students, in every pathway, have lessons in the school workshop each week and follow the Technology programme of study from the International Primary Curriculum. The topics they work on include resistant materials and textiles, and also the introduction of some basic electronics.

The older students take part in the DT Workshop Enterprise during which they have an opportunity to develop their practical skills and gain an understanding of the principles of setting up and running a small business. Work is largely project based and encompasses functional skills in Numeracy and Literacy.

Students in the three pathways have access to the following designing and making projects, which may be tailored to individual need.

Resistant Materials:

  • Tangram Puzzle
  • Fridge Magnet
  • Torch
  • Spice Rack
  • Trinket Box

Resistant materials incorporating Electronics:

  • Steady Hand Game
  • Aroma Fan
  • Mood Light
  • Computer Aided Design is introduced throughout all projects via the vinyl cutter.

In addition to the projects above, individual sessions are accommodated to enable students to pursue areas of individual interest.

Basic computer coding takes place, usually as an individual session, and introduces students to programming via “Scratch” and the BBC micro:bit.

College students also have access to the “Making a product” module provided by WJEC which is moderated externally.

Younger students have weekly Food Technology lessons following the International Primary Curriculum, covering pre-cooking skills, learning the names of equipment and foods, making a simple snack and following a short three step recipe. Lots of these lessons include interactive cookery games, stories and role play.

Older students across the three pathways have Food Technology lessons in our specialist food tech rooms. They focus on learning about basic food hygiene, making more complicated recipes and trying to design a dish using several ingredients in order to analyse and edit the final product.

The students in the top age group in each pathway have weekly lunch preparation sessions during which they search for a recipe, shop for ingredients and make their own lunch from scratch, as well as practising their budgeting skills.

Attainment in DT is assessed using the relevant modules of OCR Life & Living Skills, at Entry 1, 2 and 3, and through WJEC modules.