By the end of KS3, year 8 and year 9 students will have developed practical skills using handheld, portable and fixed equipment. The students will have practically engineered and evaluated a range of products using man-made materials, natural woods and metals. They will have learned to appreciate that material choice is determined by the properties required from an engineered product. They will have learned how to follow and interpret engineering information given to them in the form of engineering drawings. They will have learned how to critically evaluate the progress they have made, identifying ways to improve.
By the end of KS4 the students will have further developed practical and graphical communication skills. They will have been given the opportunity to re-engineer an engineered product, presenting final ideas in the form of 3D models and orthographic drawings, solve engineering problems through the application and appreciation of mathematic technique and developments in technology. They will have been given the opportunity to fully plan, make and evaluate a working engineered product.
As identified in the DfE recovery document, July 2021, students who have been away from the workshop for extended periods of time will be given opportunity to practically experience and develop skills associated with the four main manufacturing methods, i.e. subtraction, addition, forming and assembly. To be successful at the end of Key stage 4, students need to be able to demonstrate an ability to plan a sequence of practical tasks, perform the practical tasks and fully evaluate their manufacturing plan and engineered product.
The subject of Engineering at Paignton Academy has evolved from its well-established roots in traditional metal-working, woodworking, craft design and technology, resistant materials, graphic products and computer aided design and manufacture. The renaming of the subject as “engineering” has always been intended to clearly identify an exciting and varied career choice; a career that offers our young engineers’ opportunities to solve the practical problems that contribute to the economic and overall wellbeing of our society on both a small and large scale. On completion of the course students may progress along a vocational route into the trades, technical support, or through an academic route into the engineering sectors.