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Technology at Ash Manor School
Welcome to the Ash Manor School Technology Department. Technology encompasses many technological disciplines which include Engineering, Electronics, Food Technology and Catering, Product Design, Resistant Materials and Textiles. It offers all students across KS3 and KS4 a variety of opportunities to Design, Make, Test and Evaluate the products which they make. It is a fact that all products have been designed and made and all products are developed to meet specific needs. Students are fortunate to have access to a wide variety of materials, resources and new technology to help them enhance their work and bring their ideas to life. Why we study Technology at Ash Manor School: Our successful Technology department at Ash Manor provides many opportunities for all students to demonstrate a creative approach to problem solving both independently and within small group contexts. We are proud to encourage students to develop a curiosity for the world around them and enables students to see how products are designed, how they are manufactured and how they are tested to meet people’s needs. Practical work, enables students to improve their dexterity and finely tune their making ability. Ash Manor students are also encouraged to communicate their ideas graphically and through the production of models. It enables students to explore and experiment with new, innovative and creative ideas and make those all important mistakes in a safe and supportive environment. Students are also able to use skills within Technology across their other studies using cross curricular skills which compliment Art, ICT, Maths, Science, History, Geography and English to name but a few. STEM Students across all year groups have a number of opportunities throughout the year, to participate in our STEM programme. These events are regularly celebrated in the AMS Newsletter. STEM is a nationwide initiative to encourage awareness to all students of potential careers linking to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. To help ensure the future for Britain and ensure that our country plays a key role in our industrial future. Such events across all year groups have included a number of challenge events run by Surrey SATRO, BAE Engineering, Teen Tech, BAE and RAF Roadshow events, Fluor, Science@Work day involving the University of Surrey, The Science Museum, Novartis, Merrist Wood College and Guildford College. These events continue to engage and enrich the curriculum for all students throughout KS3. Out Reach Work Our department has been proud to host a number of topical Challenge Day events, which have been devised by department staff and have been enjoyed by many students in KS2 from our feeder schools. Such events have included a Cyber Safari, where students programmed a vehicle around a safari course, an Olympic challenge, which looked at students designing and building their own structures, practical workshop sessions and opportunities for training for KS2 staff. We have also run a very successful Summer School and plan to do so for Summer 2014. Enrichment The department prides itself on being able to offer many forms of enrichment to suit any taste, from KS3 Technology Club to Corsage Club, Baking Club, our annual Dads and Lads event and of course the GreenPower Challenge. Where students apply to become part of an elite team run by students, to build and race an electric car around a designated track. For an up to date report on the teams progress, read the AMS Newsletter. Curriculum 2014 KS3 With curriculum change comes opportunity. At Ash Manor School we have embraced the changes and have made some changes to our curriculum at KS3. Year 7 We know that our students have many hidden talents when it comes to problem solving, creativity, designing and making. Some of these talents lay undiscovered and students join us with a very mixed and broad experience of Design and Technology from KS2. Our Year 7 programme aims to ensure that all students are given the same opportunities to build upon their existing skills and to develop new ones. Year 7, is a skills based curriculum and from September 2014, we aim to track students skills with a new ‘Skills Passport’ helping students and teachers to see where their strengths are and where they need to be improved. We use a proven method of assessment upon arrival in Year 7, to help us ensure that we know where each and every student is performing in the areas of Designing, Making, Testing and Evaluating. We have adapted a KS4 Design Challenge to help assess our students Design and Technology Capability across all areas of the department. We then use this information to help group students to ensure that they start out on the right pathway of the technological journey. Students will then complete project work in rotations to include workshop skills, food hygiene, cooking techniques, working with wood, metal and plastic, textiles and CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacture). Project themes include: Organise me, Healthy Snacking, Making Quality Products amongst other project foci. To enrich the Year 7 experience, students will be given the opportunity to attend Technology Club, where they will build rockets (sadly not ones to get you to space, but pretty close!) produce products with our CAD/CAM Technology and manufacture solutions to mini design and make challenges. We also hope to run a KS3 Cooking Club. We aim to empower students to be autonomous and independent designers, makers, thinkers and creators from the very first week. Home Learning Home Learning in Year 7 is project based. There will be a series of two/three week tasks which students will complete outside of the learning environment which will enable them to build upon their work within the classroom/workshop. These will extend and enable students to demonstrate their researching, designing, making and evaluation skills. Year 8 Our new Year 8 curriculum builds upon the Year 7 experience, looking in more detail at students at students refining, revisiting and demonstrating their skills. Students will continue to work with food, wood, metal, plastics and CAD/CAM technology, with the introduction of SMART materials to help enhance their products. Of course, not all design tasks require a student to make an end product and we are honouring the new curriculum by building in the ‘Iterative’ approach to designing and making. This means that students will be able to design products, model products, test products, and modify their products over and over again, as nothing is ever perfect! Working on the philosophy that you can only make something once, but you can improve a design over and over again. Students will get to work with new materials and will be expected to apply technical knowledge to their designing and making, using keywords, doing presentations to explain their ideas and also making choices about their ideas based upon their knowledge. There is a big emphasis in Year 8 to ensure that our students are given opportunities to work within the style of KS4, in terms of presentation, following and using the process of designing and making and also assessment. Project Themes include: Inventions to change the world, Healthy Eating, Cultural Design amongst others. Home Learning In Year 8, Home Learning consists of set pieces of subject/project specific work which is designed to consolidate their learning inside of the classroom/workshop. These will focus on developing students extended writing skills, technical knowledge and vocabulary. Year 9 We have a trialled and tested Year 9 curriculum which offers students choice and is tailored to students needs either for future career choices or for aspects of the subject which they particularly enjoy. We encourage students to opt for potential GCSE choices at the end of Year 8, based upon a particular area of interest. We aim to offer all students their preferences and as a result have seen progress and attainment aswell as the quality of work increase. Students where possible, will be given the choice to opt for Engineering, Catering, Product Design (to include Graphics, Resistant Materials and Electronics) and Textiles. All of these areas include CAD/CAM and will involve computer modelling to help students develop their ideas through a simulated model. The department will be working with ICT to ensure that the requirements for students to programme devices and understand the concepts of systems and control are addressed throughout the year. Students will be independent in their manufacturing skills and will be given opportunities to plan and realise their own practical pieces, using some design constraints. Home Learning In Year 9, Home Learning consists of set pieces of subject/project specific work which is designed to consolidate their learning inside of the classroom/workshop. These will focus on developing students extended writing skills, technical knowledge and vocabulary. Students will be expected to conduct detailed analysis of products, looking at how they have been designed for their purpose. All Home Learning in year 9 will reflect the standards and expectations of GCSE. Assessment Technology are teaming up with Art, PE, Performing Arts including Music and Drama, to commonly assess students against KS4 criteria. This will help students, parents and teachers to establish a common approach to assessment and will enable students to experience what it is like to work within KS4 criteria and expectations. KS4 We are proud to offer a varied selection of opportunities for students at KS4, which are the natural next steps from KS3. We currently offer GCSE Product Design (including Resistant Materials, Graphics and Electronics) GCSE Resistant Materials, GCSE Food Technology, GCSE Textiles and BTEC Level 2 Engineering. We are looking at offering BTEC Level 2 Catering. In an ever changing climate we always look to take opportunities which are going to most benefit all students at KS4, enabling them to follow on to KS5 with the right Technology qualification. |
