Year 7 Product Design / Resistant Materials: 
In Year 7 we base our projects around the theme ‘Materials & Skills’. Pupils are taught skills and knowledge through a variety of design and make tasks. They produce a CAD design and CAM assembled Land Yacht. They learn about ergonomics and apply this knowledge to producing an ergonomic handle on a product that they use every day. Pupils also undertake a control and coding module based around the BBC micro:bit. These projects give the pupils a firm foundation for progression to Year 8.

Year 8 Product Design / Resistant Materials: 
Building on the skills and techniques learned in Year 7, the theme for this year is ‘Children’ - they are the target market for the projects the pupils undertake. Pupils are introduced to the methods used to produce products in quantity in industry. Pupils undertake an electronic module. They produce an LED light circuit and, using CAD/CAM, pupils create an imaginative box for their electronic LED light. Pupils learn about mechanisms and create a paper-engineered mechanical card product. Pupils undertake a module entitled ‘Nature Challenge’ where they work in teams of 3-4 to create a bird feeding station or an insect house. The pupils are challenged by working within certain constraints, for example, the amount of wood they are given but this project is also good for learning to work well in a team.

Year 9 Product Design / Resistant Materials:
The theme for Year 9 is ‘Sustainability’. Pupils undertake a group project in renewable energy. The pupils work in groups of 3–4 to design and create their own large Wind Turbines, looking at aspects of eco-efficiency and structure. Pupils are taught how to model and create a variety of products from recycled materials to suit a given brief. Pupils learn about design in the built environment, with particular focus being on sustainability. The pupils create a leaflet targeted at the public, informing them how their homes can be more sustainable. Working in teams of 2, they research a variety of different architects and present their research to the rest of their group. They are given a choice of three briefs, and they develop their ideas in Revit and SketchUp.

Pupils will be enthused and challenged by the range of practical activities possible as the specification for GCSE Product Design seeks to build upon the multimedia approach of graphic design and the 3D making of Resistant Materials.

Pupils will design and make products using a wide range of materials, whilst paper/card continues to be the compulsory material for study in this multi-material specification. You must study at least one other material and are encouraged to develop an awareness of other material areas.

In Year 10 pupils follow a modular rotation pattern which involves:

• Use of CAD/CAM to develop modelling techniques and produce a graphics based project;
• Creatively using wood to create a product out of: Looking at design and making skills;
• Learning new skills about how to join and manipulate a combination of materials, developing the skills to create an interesting final product;
• Designing products that suit a specific target market: Looking at their sustainable impact and how to develop and improve them.

Having completed these modules the pupils will then have the opportunity to select an exam theme and work in the material area of their choice. This provides challenge and enables the pupils to work independently, using the skills that they have gained through Year 10 and Key Stage 3.

The two year full GCSE Design Technology course requires pupils to undertake the Year 10 course and then to complete a coursework project (worth 50% of the final grade) and a theory examination (worth 50% of the final grade) in Year 11. Pupils will select from a range of broad set Themes and design and make a product to fulfil a target market needs.

In Year 10 the modules will be assessed following the coursework guidelines and there will be end of module tests. In June the pupils will undertake the coursework task that they have chosen.