Key Stage 3
Engineering is taught to all students in KS3 with a double lesson each week, rotating every 6 weeks. Engineering lessons in KS3 focuses on developing the student’s progress in their ability to produce mood boards and learning the design process which is critical to understand the cycle of design and evaluation. The students are taught how to understand the importance of designing for a specific audience, which influences their choices and their designs. In KS3, the students will be able to develop their ability to reflect upon their own work by writing evaluations which focus upon what they like and dislike about their work and what they intend to do to improve their work.
As Engineering is a new subject for Year 7’s, it is vitally important that the students enjoy Engineering. Throughout KS3 the students are encouraged to be creative, where their designs are developed to a high quality and their exposure to new tools and machinery are carefully introduced, to build their confidence, Engineering has been for the last 5 years one of the most popular choices. Engineering lessons are structured to be stimulating, engaging and challenging.
Key Stage 4
Towards the end of year 9, the students can choose to study GCSE Engineering. As previously stated, Engineering is one of the most popular choices for students. In Engineering we follow the WJEC qualification. The Engineering students produce two A3 folders of work. One in year 10 and the second in year 11. All their folder work is produced in lesson under teacher supervision.
The Engineering GCSE is made up of 70% coursework (unit 1 and unit 2) and 30% exam (unit 3). The students have two attempts at their exam, one in January and the second attempt in July. The exam is 1 hour and 30 minutes long. The exam will question the pupils on product analysis, different types of materials and technical drawings.
Engineering is a cross curricular subject, where links to Maths, Science and English are established. Engineering is a challenging subject but is very rewarding. In the last year, the GCSE Students have earned some of the highest results in the school as we strive for excellence.