Engineering Design Curriculum Statement
At The Oaks Academy, we aim to inspire and engage all learners to be creative and innovative, manage and control risks, work safely with a variety of tools and materials, become resourceful, enterprising, and resilient citizens.
As part of the Engineering Design curriculum, we strive to create an engaging and challenging learning environment that strives to allow all learners to develop their creative thinking and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills to design high-quality products for a wide range of users. Learners are given opportunities to prototype and refine ideas through CAD/CAM and hand sketching and are encouraged to self-reflect and refine ideas based upon testing and other evaluative factors. Through this, learners can become iterative thinkers and become resilient to the rapidly developing Engineering sector.
We work hard to give learners opportunities to become:
- To be creative thinkers who use a wide range of research to inform designs and opinions
- To be technical thinkers and engage in practical tasks to develop and improve manufacturing and design expertise to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
- Are self-reflective, critical thinkers who will evaluate and test their ideas and manufactured products and the work of others to inform design decisions
- Understand and can apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook, as well as lead a healthy lifestyle.
National Curriculum
The aims and goals of our Engineering Design curriculum are unique as Engineering is taught exclusively at GCSE level. However, learners can draw upon their learning from a wide range of KS3 subjects- Art, Maths, Science, ICT and Design Technology to springboard their KS4 experiences. Pupils at The Oaks Academy will: embrace a range of Engineering principles and communication techniques to design, evaluate and model products to set design briefs and client specifications. As a range of skills across the National Curriculum can be applied to this KS4 subject, it is vital learners embrace their broad and knowledge rich curriculum at KS3 to ensure success.
Exceeding Ambition
We aim to offer an Engineering Design curriculum and enrichment opportunities that inspire students with interests and careers aspirations within the Engineering sector. Students will have the opportunities to get involved in STEM competitions and careers events linked to post 16 options linked to Engineering Design.
Intent
Students will work through two set assignments that cultivates learners’ communication skills. Through each unit, learners have opportunities to use both ICT and hand drawing skills to communicate design thinking and evaluative information. Through covering a range of skills and techniques in each project, this ensures the curriculum is varied and enables students to learn and perfect a range of communication styles.
Our pupils will:
- Develop a range of design communication techniques including online Computer Design skills across a range of CAD systems, hand sketching and design development using mixed media.
- Plan, design and prototype products to scale using orthographic drawings.
- Research and develop designs for set Engineering problems.
- Experiment design proposals in a range of materials.
Engineering
Implementation - what does learning look like?
Course Details: Here at The Oaks Academy, we offer Engineering Design through the OCR J822 Cambridge National qualification. This course is a Level 1/Level 2 course, with grading from a L1P-L2D*.
Within Engineering Design, there are three units that work in conjunction to generate a learner’s final grade. Each of these units have a percentage weighting and involve in school portfolio generation and a final examination:
R038: Principles of engineering design. This is an externally set examination sat during Y11- worth 40% of the overall grading.
R039: Communicating designs. A set assignment from OCR, learners will design a product linked to solving a set problem- worth 30% of the overall grading.
R040: Design, evaluation and modelling. A set assignment from OCR, learners will research, evaluate and prototype a specific product. Learners’ prototypes will be generated from a set orthographic drawing- worth 30% of the overall grading.
Across all units, learners will generate a range of Computer Aided Design products, hand sketches, prototype products and written analysis. These will be collated into the specific portfolios to form their NEA (non-examination assessment) assignments.
Key Stage 4
Year 10: To begin our studies, learners will complete an introduction to the Engineering world, looking at the different sectors of Engineering, jobs and career opportunities as well as the steps needed to be undertaken to reach those career aspirations. From there, learners spend time generating their portfolio assignments linked to R039 and R040. This undertaking involves a large amount of computer-generated design work, hand sketching and analysis work. Throughout their assignments, learners are encouraged to critically reflect on their design proposals against the set design brief and specification.
Year 11: As with any qualification, learners could require opportunities to re-sit NEA (non-examination assessment) assignments. To begin Y11, learners who need a resit for R039 or R040 will have an opportunity to do so. These will be completed prior to sitting R038. Upon completion of all NEA, learners will spend the rest of Y11 preparing for their final examination. R038 consists of topics such as:
- Design processes and strategies.
- Design requirements
- Communicating design outcomes
- Evaluating design ideas
Impact
KS4 learners' work (both in class design work and any NEA) should be marked in line with the JCQ and school policies.
Aims and Principles
The aim of the feedback policy within Engineering (which aligns with the Design & Technology departments policy) is to ensure students receive timely and accurate responses to their work which ensures that:
- Learners can identify and correct their own mistakes and share their own strengths both in theory and practical elements
- Learners can demonstrate improvement on their work independently in both theory and practical elements
- Learners demonstrate correction of and improved understanding of grammatical and spelling issues within Engineering
- Learners demonstrate understanding of key words and concepts within the subject context of each topic
- Improvement Phases will target the following areas as priorities:
- Understanding and spelling of key words and concepts as identified within the scheme of work and knowledge organisers
- Challenging misconceptions and correcting mistakes within the theory context
- Developing written responses in order to develop deeper subject knowledge.
- Demonstrating correct understanding and application of practical methods within the materials context.
- Accuracy and quality of practical outcome based upon materials context.
Methodology
The following methods may be of use when planning improvement phases:
- Sample answers – model examples of graded work for students to evaluate against. From this, students can evaluate and compare their own work to produce improved responses or make corrections as appropriate.
- Redrafting – this can be a whole class or individual exercise depending on what work has been produced. Students will be expected to complete the same or similar task as before, but this time given more specific guidance (through mark schemes or exemplar work) based on what the teacher has learned from looking at the class books
- Reteach – it may be that having looked at the books entire concepts have not been properly understood by most of the class in which case the concept is retaught (whilst providing additional challenge for the minority who could demonstrate understanding previously)
- Modelling/demonstration for practical/theory improvements- when creating practical pieces, teachers will produce models of 3D outcomes or techniques to show the workings of components/materials in the correct context. Demonstrations can be used on a 1-1 or small group’s basis to aid learners understanding.
Cultural Capital Opportunities linked to Personal & Character Development
Within Engineering Design, learners will have access to skills videos and both a core skills/materials/equipment KO. These items will support learners in their homework, classwork and wider reading/knowledge base. These skills videos will be used by staff to support teaching skills as part of the learning process. Throughout the character programme, we focus to instil a growth mindset within learners to prepare them for the design and manufacturing world post 16.