Designing

Design and Technology

Secondary

Designing an inspirational space for pupils to learn

Architect Phin Manasseh works with pupils at Mounts Bay School in Cornwall to create an inspirational space with a social purpose but where learning takes place too. Involving pupils in this way is a key part of the Joinedupdesignforschools project. The brainchild of The Sorrell Foundation, the project gives pupils a major say in how an aspect of their school's environment is improved. The pupils are the clients, briefing designers who produce designs for their approval. Phin Manasseh spoke of the success of the project. He said: "If all clients were like this, we?d have very different results." The Joinedupdesignforschools project follows a four stage pattern: <ul> <li>The challenge</li> <li>The brief</li> <li>The conversation</li> <li>The concept</li> </ul> A follow-up then looks at the school's success in finding the money to turn the creative designs into reality.

A Place to Chill

Students team up with a design firm to create stimulating signs

Students in Birmingham work with a design firm to create a multi-lingual signage system reflecting their school's status as a language college. Acting as the clients, the students from Summerhill school collaborate with the company Graphic Thought Facility, to come up with big stencilled signs, colour coded for subject, directing pupils around the school building. Involving pupils in this way is a key part of the Joinedupdesignforschools project. The brainchild of The Sorrell Foundation, the project gives pupils a major say in how an aspect of their school's environment is improved. The pupils are the clients, briefing designers who produce designs for their approval. The project follows a four stage pattern: <ul> <li>The challenge</li> <li>The brief</li> <li>The conversation</li> <li>The concept</li> </ul> A follow-up then looks at the school's success in finding the money to turn the creative designs into reality.

Big Bold Signs

Students transform their dingy canteen with the help of designers

This programme follows the pupils of Acland Burghley School in north London as they brief SHH Design to help them transform their dingy canteen into The Hub, a place to eat and socialise. Involving pupils in this way is a key part of the Joinedupdesignforschools project. The brainchild of The Sorrell Foundation, the project gives pupils a major say in how an aspect of their school's environment is improved. The pupils are the clients, briefing designers who produce designs for their approval. The project follows a four stage pattern: <ul> <li>The challenge</li> <li>The brief</li> <li>The conversation</li> <li>The concept</li> </ul> A follow-up then looks at the school's success in finding the money to turn the creative designs into reality.

Civilised Lunchtime

The final stage of the dress designed from e-textiles brief

The winning entry for a dress designed from e-textiles for Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 design and technology students is complete. Presenter Kate Bellingham set a challenge to KS5 and KS5 design and technology students to design her a dress made from e-textiles, to wear as she hosts the British Engineering Excellence Awards at the Globe Theatre, London. The winning design, by A-level product design student Abigail, has now been completed and Kate is wearing it at the awards show. The designers reveal how the electronics were integrated into the dress, how the electronic components are controlled and whether everything has gone to plan.

Engineering Elegance - Awards

Designing a dress from e-textiles in design and technology

TV presenter and teacher, Kate Bellingham, sets a design challenge to Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 design and technology students. The scope is to design Kate a dress made from e-textiles, to wear as she hosts the British Engineering Excellence Awards at London's Globe Theatre. Kate is joined by a panel of fashion, engineering and textiles experts to help choose a winning design. The judges will be looking for how well the designs have followed the brief, the incorporation of different e-textiles, such as LEDs and fibre optics, how easily the design can be made and of course whether Kate likes it.

Engineering Elegance - Design

An A-level D&T student wins an e-textiles dress design challenge

The winner of the dress designing challenge, set by Kate Bellingham to her Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 design and technology students, sets about making her designs a reality. Kate Bellingham set a challenge to the design and technology students , to design her a dress made from e-textiles, to wear as she hosts a prestigious awards ceremony at the Globe Theatre in London. Abigail, an A-level product and design student, wins the competition and meets with Kate and the fashion company who will be making to the dress to discuss the design further. The group looks at how this can be turned into a wearable and functional dress. They pay particular attention to the materials, the electronic components, such as LEDs, fibre optics and circuitry and of course, the cost.

Engineering Elegance - Manufacturing

An AST takes a cross curricular approach to topics

Science AST Alison Tiltman is keen to work closely with other departments and encourage cross curricular learning. Combining science, D&T, and maths, her Year 9 students take part in a challenge to imagine they're running their own cosmetics companies. As part of the project they must design, build, market and sell their own bath bombs.In their D&T class they vacuum-form the bomb's moulds and work on their packaging design. Meanwhile, in science they get their hands on the chemicals necessary to make the bath bombs, and in maths they explore the financial side of their businesses. The programme also takes a look at Alison's rockets project which also has obvious potential in science, design and technology and maths.

KS3 Cross Curricular - Bath Bombs and Rockets

The new KS3 D&T National Strategy pilot in action

The Key Stage 3 National Strategy has turned its spotlight on design and technology. The general thrust of the strategy is greater emphasis on design and on encouraging students to have confidence in their creativity. This programme follows resistant materials specialist Sharon Giraud, from Nower Hill High School in Harrow, as she teaches two lessons, three weeks apart, as part of a nine-week module on jewellery design. Harrow is one of ten LEAs piloting a range of materials and lesson plans which are intended to deliver the KS3 strategy. Key points: <ul> <li> Sharon delays the specific task of jewellery design to allow students more time to come up with original designs </li> <li> This is done through the use of Chingdogu images and I-Pac (inspirational product activity) cards </li> <li> These are intended to stimulate emotional responses that can be used as starting points for generating ideas </li> <li> These activities provide an antidote to the plagiarised ideas that pupils often produce </li> </ul>

KS3 Design & Technology - Improving Design Subskills

Portsmouth harbour inspires an interesting KS3 D&amp;T lesson

In a design and technology lesson inspired by freight ships and ferries at Portsmouth harbour, local pupils design, make and race model cargo boats. The lesson, led by team teachers Justin Baker and Christopher Smith, incorporates key concepts from the new secondary curriculum. Pupils are divided into groups, each representing a different country. The boats carry cargo typical of their country, helping pupils understand the cultural and economic reasons for their boats. By supplying the pupils with an environmentally-friendly elastic band-powered propeller, pupils are made aware of the environmental impact a design could have. The teams are judged on the distance their boat travels, team work, how the boats carry the cargo, and the boats' appearance. Justin reflects on how the new-style lessons are encouraging pupils to become creative problem-solvers of the future with an awareness of how designing and making has an aesthetic and economic impact on the world.

KS3 Design and Technology - The New Curriculum

Incorporating traditional design skills in CAD/CAM

For D&amp;T trouble-shooter Steve Stott, CAD/CAM is fraught with dangers. Though it has revolutionised classroom teaching, it often leads to traditional design skills being ignored. Steve, a full-time advisor for Barking and Dagenham LEA, has helped to pioneer a new work scheme that takes students back to the first principles of design. In this programme Stott works with teachers from Barking and Dagenham, showing them how to apply his methods in their classrooms. Using simple pencil drawing, he asks students to break down familiar images (such as animals, plants and people) into familiar geometric shapes which will later form the basis of designs for functional objects like CDs and toothbrush holders. This happens via a refinement of drawings, crude cardboard prototyping, CAD work using PROdesktop software and eventually CAM.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

Subjects

> Secondary Design and Technology

> Designing