The Design and Technology curriculum at Brook Mead Academy builds scholars’ understanding of materials, their working properties, manufacturing capabilities and how this informs subsequent design considerations. By the end of KS3, students should have a strong materials foundation knowledge to support their KS4 learning where materials and manufacturing processes form a key part of both Core Technical Principles and Specialist Technical Principles.
The Year 7 curriculum focusses on Timber, its traditional and modern uses in product development and its sustainability which enables scholars to make key decisions about which timbers are best to use for their children’s toy plane project, analysing both their working properties and manufacturing capabilities to inform the selection.
The Year 8 curriculum introduces scholars to polymers (plastic), again learning about the different types and how the material can be manufactured into the products we use. This unit of work allows scholars to compare and contrast materials, drawing on their knowledge of Timbers and drawing conclusions about the many differences in function, properties and sustainability between Timber and Plastic. Scholars also design more complex and organic shaped products through study of the work of Alessi, where plastic is a key material.
Design and Technology will be introduced in Year 9 in September 2026.