The teaching of Design and Technology at Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 and 9) allows students to gain vital skills in all aspects of Design and Technology. Each year students rotate around all four Design and Technology subject areas: Engineering, Textiles, Hospitality and Design Technology. Students spend 10 weeks in each area.

During this time, students design and make a number of different products including a desk tidy, decorative cushions, laser cut keyrings and lots of different food products.

During practical lessons students are taught a wide range of both traditional craft skills and use of specialist equipment and machinery. As well as practical lessons students will take part in theory lessons giving them the opportunity to develop their knowledge of materials and design processes.

Below are the projects students will complete in Year 7:

Year 7	Topic	Key Content
Food	Basic Cookery Skills	Health and safety in the kitchen Basic Knife skills What is a balanced diet? Functions of ingredients Weighing and measuring
Textiles	Street Art Cushion	Health and safety in a textiles room Using a sewing machine Using Pins and Needles Decorative Techniques
CAD	Laser Cut Keyring	Health and safety in the CAD room Technical drawings Using CAD (computer aided design) How a laser cutter works
Product Design	Desk Tidy	Health and safety in the workshop Timber Using different machinery in the workshop safety Exploring wood joints