Teachers:

Mr J McGoldrick [HOD]
Mr L Kelly
Mrs F Convery

Miss N McKenna

Technician:
Mr J Clarke 

 

Subjects offered by the Technology department at GCSE Level:

Technology and Design Resistant Materials (WJEC)

Constructing the Built Environment (WJEC)

Occupational Studies Carpentry and Joinery (CCEA)

Design & Technology department Key Stage 3

At Edmund Rice College we aim to empower pupils to achieve their potential and to make informed and responsible choices and decisions throughout their lives. It is about helping all pupils prepare for life and work:

• as individuals;
• as contributors to society;
• as contributors to the economy and environment.

Within the Technology and Design department we have a significant role to play in this.

Many pupils at this age have a keen interest in trying to understand major issues that they encounter within their own culture, and through the media. Coming to a more informed understanding of the personal, social and environmental issues which will have an impact on them during their lives, pupils need to explore:

• their sense of identity and belonging;
• their curiosity about the world around them;
• their value system and how we interact with our world and with each other.

The study and practices of Technology and Design help us in making sense of the world, both in terms of the practical issues of design and their close relationship with the values of society and in the consideration of how the products of culture enrich experience.

Within our department Technology and Design develops pupils as individuals by:

• promoting creativity and problem solving skills in response to design challenges in the individual’s life;
• helping individuals appreciate their own and other’s achievements through research, investigation and evaluation of products;
• promoting safe working practice.

Technology and Design develops pupils as contributors to society by:

• investigating the design and manufacture of products which aid particular groups within our society;
• evaluating cultural trends to identify needs and opportunities;
• exploring how technology contributes to communication within society;
• investigating the various impacts which changes in technology have on ethical issues in our lives.

Technology and Design develops pupils as contributors to the economy and environment by:

• enabling pupils to develop skills relating specifically to design, manufacture and testing within an engineering environment;
• developing skills valued by employers such as: analysis of problems, research from various sources, analysis of information, problem solving, practical skills including use of new technology, communication and ICT skills;
• analysing a wide variety of products from local and global companies;
• investigating environmental issues in the world today and seeking design solutions which are most suited to taking account of those issues.