Stowmarket High School Information - Flipbook - Page 6
Resistant Materials
All year 7 & 8 students experience Resistant Materials and many choose this subject at GCSE level. Pupils
work with a wide range of materials commonly found in our daily lives and are given opportunities to design
and make products to solve real life problems. Pupils develop design skills to effectively communicate their
ideas and acquire a broad range of practical skills to materialise their proposals into final outcomes. We
follow the process of planning, designing, making, testing and evaluating so that learners can develop and
continually improve their approach to product design. Many extra-curricular opportunities and initiatives,
such as Young Tycoon and F1 in Schools are available for pupils. We are very aware that we are living in a
technological age and therefore our curriculum allows our pupils to experience substantial Computer Aided
Design & Manufacture learning.
Textiles
Textiles in year 7 pupils learn about the sources of fibres and how they are made. We start learning some
basic sewing machine skills and learn how to appliqué by hand and machine. Pupils design, plan and create
their own cuddly monster toy and use the appliqué technique to add features to their product. In year 8
we look at how fibres are turned into fabrics using various different methods and how these change the
characteristics of the fabric produced. We experiment with the surface decoration techniques of tie-dye,
batik and fabric pens to design and make a pencil case. Pupils undertake product analysis and design their
product around a specific user. Sewing machine skills are developed to produce finished edges, strong
stitching and a durable, functional and unique product is created by each pupil. Many pupils choose to
progress to GCSE with their textiles studies and produce diverse and exciting outcomes.
Engineering
Engineering is a very popular GCSE option that builds upon many of the skills our students experience at
Key Stage 3 and introduces them to a range of career paths this subject has to offer. Students will develop
a host of practical skills as well as their design skills to communicate ideas through technical drawing and
3Dimensional modelling with an emphasis on precision. A project- based approach to learning enables
students to use their initiative and independently investigate contexts to come up with their own solutions
to design briefs and problems. A broader knowledge of material properties, manufacturing processes and
product development are taught to improve the students’ problem solving and critical thinking skill sets.
Those with a real passion for this subject may wish to join our ‘F1 for schools’ team and compete against
local schools.
