Design & Technology
Design and technology is about making things that people want and that work well. It is a challenging subject as it requires an enquiring mind, initiative, determination, the careful management of time and resources and a sense of responsibility for making decisions and taking action. An important feature is that it makes immediate and practical use of knowledge and skills from other subjects. It is linked directly with art, mathematics, science and ICT and also covers issues which are part of PDC and Geography.
âAt Waldegrave we combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetics, function, social and environmental issues and industrial practices. All students have the opportunity to work with a range of materials including food, textiles, electronics, resistant and graphic materials. Through design and technology, all students can become discriminating and informed users of products as well as potential innovators of the future.
At Waldegrave our aims are to set challenging targets with high expectations for all pupils. We offer a variety of approaches to teaching and learning to engage and motivate pupils and demand their active participation. This helps to enable a smooth transition for pupils between Key Stages and ensure progression in teaching and learning throughout their time at school. Students are encouraged to develop the ability to work individually and in a group. They are inspired to be creative and innovative through designing and making and to draw on knowledge and experiences from across the curriculum and from their own life in general. We offer enrichment opportunities outside the curriculum to further enhance pupils’ enjoyment of Design & Technology. This also helps to open students’ eyes to a vast range of further / higher education and employment possibilities. We aim for all students to develop an understanding of a designer's responsibility towards environmental and ethical issues.
At the end of their D&T education at Waldegrave, each student will be able to: use ICT to enhance their Design & Technology work; choose and manage resources; critically analyse their work and that of others; use verbal, graphical and modelling skills in the process of designing; have a knowledge and understanding of materials and components; design, make, modify and improve artefacts; disassemble and evaluate products and their applications; and explore values about and attitudes to the made world and how we live, work and interact within it.