Design & Technology
 

The faculty comprises 19 teaching staff and 5 support staff and is a little different than the name would initially imply - it is broken down into a number of subject areas as follows:Design Technology; Graphics; Food & Catering; Child Development and Health & Social Care; Textiles & Fashion; Art and ICT. This is quite a diverse set of subjects but all staff work very well together and often work collaboratively.

The facilities for Technology are impressive and include 2 materials workshops, 2 food rooms, 2 textiles workshops, 3 computer suites, 1 graphics room, 1 design room and 4 further general classrooms. As a faculty we are one of the largest users of ICT in the school and nearly all classrooms are equipped with up-to-date computers and a large variety of CAD/CAM equipment. The faculty is well equipped with up-to-date and industry standard equipment and machinery in all areas.

The whole faculty prides itself on a high standard of teaching and results.

In Year 9, we take a different approach to Technology than students will have seen at middle school. All students study ICT and Art for 2 periods per fortnight. They will also get to express a preference for 2 subjects out of Design Technology, Graphics, Food and Textiles. They will then follow 2 subjects throughout the whole of Year 9 for 2 periods per fortnight in each subject. All of these courses are designed to develop on from KS3 teaching in middle schools and prepare students for GCSE options courses. Because of the way that these courses are taught, students will still be able to follow any of the Technology GCSEs no matter which 2 subjects they study in Year 9.

At GCSE level we currently offer:

• Design and Technology

• Graphics

• Fashion

• Food and Nutrition

• Hospitality and Catering

• Computer Science

• iMedia

• ICT

• Child Development

• Art

Most of these courses are developed into A Levels or equivalent and we have good uptake into most of our A Level courses. Sixth form students are encouraged to become independent users of the facilities and can often be found working in faculty in their study periods.

For the sixth form we currently offer:

• Design and Technology

• Hospitality

• Graphic Communication

• Fashion and Clothing

• Computer Science

• ICT

• Children’s Care Learning and Development

• Health and Social Care

• Art

Other Information

The faculty runs a number of visits and trips including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Milton Keynes Recycling Centre, and The Clothes Show. The faculty also enters local and national competitions including The East of England Show, GreenPower Racing and The Rotary Technology Tournament. In the past few years we have been very successful in quite a few of these competitions and we are always looking for more students to join in with this excellence. We are particularly proud of the achievements of Redborne Racing who are currently ranked 38 in the national GreenPower racing series.

As well as running a variety of clubs most subject areas run workshops for GCSE and A Level students most days both at lunchtime and after school and these help students to achieve good results.