Design and Technology

Introduction to Design and Technology

In design and technology pupils combine practical and technological skills with creative thinking to design and make products and systems that meet human needs. They learn to use current technologies and consider the impact of future technological developments. They learn to think creatively and intervene to improve the quality of life, solving problems as individuals and members of a team.

The ethos within the department is that the pupils should learn as much as possible by completing practical projects and exercises in a fun and stimulating environment and that they should have as much access to the widest range of materials and processes as possible, in order to manufacture products of real quality and value. We want the pupils to have an awareness of why products are designed the way that they are and to be able to critically evaluate products that they use and have made themselves. We also feel it is important that pupils have an awareness of the key role that designers and engineers will have in the future as more demands are placed on the Earth’s resources and how we can design for sustainability and a better environment.

 

Curriculum

Key Stage 3

Key Stage 3 is centred on six 'design and make' activities that expose the pupils to a wide range of materials and processes. These take pupils from the basics of marking out and using simple hand tools through to using machine tools like the centre lathe and completing an electronics module where pupils design, build and test their own circuits. Another key element of the course is the use of Computer Aided Design and Manufacture (CAD/CAM) where
pupils complete drawings and then output them to the department’s
laser cutter. This gives pupils a broard experience of design and technology in preparation for a GCSE course. Homework is set every week and is usually design or research based, focusing on the learning objectives for that scheme of work.

 

Key Stage 4

We study the Edexcel Resistant Materials syllabus at GCSE as it allows pupils a wide range of experiences and then leads onto the excellent Edexcel A level course.

Pupils who elect to do Design and Technology at GCSE undertake two projects in Lower 5 which give them more advanced skills in preparation to pick their own design brief. All pupils are given ProDesktop CAD software to use at home and this is used to develop and model their ideas further. In Upper 5, pupils spend the majority of their time working on their major project which counts for 60% of their final grade.

 

Key Stage 5

In Lower 6, students undertake five separate projects which all count towards their final grade. This introduces a lot of variety into the course and keeps things very busy.

This is the foundation for their A2 studies where students are expected to design in a commercial context, that is, that they are required to find a client and design for their specific needs.

 

Resources

We have a very wide range of resources within the department that pupils can use. We have two large general purpose workshops and a new CAD/CAM and graphics room that includes two CAM milling machines, a CAM lathe and a laser cutter. In September 2009, we took delivery of a new 3D printer, and we also have a wide range of machine tools, sanders, hand tools as well as a hot metal working area, plastics forming equipment and electronics equipment.

 

Extra-Curricular Activities

Our main extra-curricular activity is our Young Engineers’ club which takes place on Thursday evenings from 4.00pm to 5.30pm. We centre this around the Greenpower Competition where pupils design, build, test and race their own electric powered racing cars. We have been competing in this competition for four years and we have qualified for the National final three times in our original car ‘Rivet Racer’ achieving an excellent 24th place (out of over 300 schools) in only our secnd year of racing.

For his A2 project in 2009, Jonathan Sneller built ‘The Nightmare’, Freemen’s second Greenpower car which competed at Rockingham and at the National Final in 2009, where the car came 31st out of 300 schools that had entered the competition. Having taken a break from competition this year, the Freemen’s team will be back for the 2011 season, competing with two cars in the F24 competition and a newly built car in the F24+ competition, for Sixth Form students.

We also have a model railway club which is designing and building a large model railway set that we hope to have set up in the department for pupils to enjoy.

Every year we organise a Lower 6 trip with the Business Studies department to visit manufacturing organisations. In recent years we have been to Cadbury’s, Jaguar Cars, BMW-Mini, Morgan Cars and Peugeot. Many of our Sixth form pupils partake in Headstart summer courses at University engineering faculties across the United Kingdom.

 

Recent News

Students get Motoring!

In November 2010 a joint trip by the Design and Technology, Business Studies and ICT Departments visited the Jaguar Cars factory at Castle Bromwich. The Upper 5, Lower 6 and Upper 6 pupils were given a guided tour of the state of the art XF production line and then they had a go at programming a robot to move a container between two points - not as easy as it sounds. The pupils were also given lectures on the use of quality control methods in production and human resources issues.

It was an excellent trip which greatly helped to put the pupils’ theoretical knowledge into context and they were able to see at first hand the relationship between engineering, business and ICT systems.

 

Girl Power Greenpower

Design and Technology Week took place between 21st and 25th June 2010, and to celebrate a group of female pupils were given the task of building a new Greenpower car in five days. The pupils worked every afternoon to build the kit car which had been kindly purchased by the Freemen’s School Association and on the afternoon of Friday 25th June, after many hours of work and effort, they successfully completed some initial test runs.

The girls will now be putting the final touches to the vehicle before competing in their first race at the Dunsfold Circuit in September, which is better known as the Top Gear test track.

The Upper 4 and Lower 5 pupils also had a talk from Tom Gaymor of the GoMotorsport organisation, which provided a valuable insight into the world of motorsport and how the pupils could get involved.

 

Nightmare Runs Like A Dream

On Sunday 18th October, the Freemen's Greenpower team took part in the National Final at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex. This was the fourth year in a row that the team have qualified for the event and were looking to break into the top 20 for the first time. The car was driven by a team of Upper 4 pupils who had qualified for the event by taking part in heats at Dunsfold and Rockingham.

The car called 'Nightmare', built entirely by pupils at the school, ran faultlessly for the four hour race which involves a team of drivers taking it in turns to drive and act as the pit crew to change batteries and make running repairs. In the closing stages of the race as other teams' cars began to fail, 'nightmare' was rapidly catching the cars ahead of it and this led to an exciting finish with us overtaking 30 cars in the second half of the race. George Seymour who was the final driver of the day was not quite able to catch the other six cars who were on the same lap as Freemen's at the end, so although we finished in 32nd place there was much for the team to be proud of. The team will be working on the car over the winter and it is hoped that the planned improvements will see the car climb further up the field next year.

 

Susannah Engineers A Scholarship

In June 2008 Susannah Westby’s dream of a career in Engineering was given a boost as she was awarded a prestigious Arkwright Scholarship.

As a result Susannah was sponsored through her A Level studies which included Design Technology and Mathematics.

Susannah said: "I was a bit surprised but really pleased to have been chosen, and I’m even more determined to study Engineering at University now."

Susannah was selected to receive an Arkwright Scholarship after successfully passing the Arkwright Aptitude Paper demonstrating flair and originality in solving engineering design problems and presenting GCSE work to a panel of interviewers. The selection process then culminated in an interview for shortlisted candidates at Imperial College.  A team exercise presented by the university provided the interviewees with an experience of the challenge and excitement of engineering related careers.

Head of Design Technology, Alex Kew, said: "This is the first time one of our students has achieved this Scholarship but in Susannah’s case it is well deserved.  The Department, and the School as a whole, are proud of her achievements."

Scholarships are sponsored by Industry and Charitable Trusts and was formally presented at a ceremony hosted by The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London, on Friday 31st October 2008.

 

Academic Results

 

In 2011:

At A Level three candidates were entered, one got an A*, one got a B and one got a C.

At AS Level three candidates were entered, two got a grade B, and one got a grade C.

At GCSE Level 17 candidates were entered, seven got an A*, nine got an A, and one got a B. Therefore 94% of candidates received an A* or A grade.

 

In 2010:

At A Level four candidates were entered, one got an A*, two got an A, and one got a B.

At AS Level six candidates were entered, one got an A, one got a B, two attained a C, and two got a grade D.

At GCSE Level five candidates were entered, one got an A*, and four got an A.

Both Susie Westby and Matthew Green have gone on to Loughborough University to read Engineering Product Design.

 

Careers

Nearly all of the pupils who have studied Design and Technology at Freemen’s have gone onto degree courses where the skills they have learnt with us have been of great value. In the last five years, pupils have gone on to study:

Product Design ● Mechanical Engineering ● Civil Engineering ● Automotive Engineering ● Motorsport Engineering ● Aeronautical Engineering ● Architectural Science

Design and Technology allows access to a wide range of creative, demanding and well paid careers, with transferable skills.

 

Staff in the Department

Mr Alex Kew, Head of Department, graduated from Loughborough University in 1993 with a BEng (Hons) degree in Manufacturing Engineering and Management, and from Brunel University in 1996 with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. He has been teaching for 14 years in both the state and private sectors and arrived at Freemen's in 2001. As well as being Head of the Design and Technology Department, he teaches Resistant Materials from Upper 3 to Upper 5 and Product Design in the Sixth Form. Mr Kew also teaches Key Stage 4 Electronics.He particularly enjoys teaching Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing on the Department's excellent facilities in this area. For the last six years he has run the Freemen's Young Engineers' Club which meets after school to design, build and race cars to take part in the National Greenpower Electric Car racing series.

 

Mr Mike Collier, Head of Technology, graduated from Middlesex University in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 1985 having been sponsored by GEC and Kodak. After graduating he went to work for GEC on designing and commissioning the first digital telecommunication systems (System X). Mr Collier's small claim to fame is having been involved in the first transatlantic video conferencing link (albeit so slow scan that it took 30 seconds to bring up an image – but it worked!). Having spent a year in 1990 travelling the USA and working in Manhattan he returned to undertake a BEd: Design Technology at Exeter University.  

Mr Collier taught at Kingston Grammar school for five years before arriving at Freemen's in 2000 to take over as Head of Technology and Electronics in a brand new building with these magnificent facilities. He teaches anywhere from Upper 3 to A Level in Electronics and Design Technology.

In addition to the obvious professional interests Mr Collier enjoys many other pastimes, mostly sporting including: triathlons, free-fall parachuting, masters swimming, surfing, snowboarding, cricket and old man’s golf.

 

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