Design and Technology
Curriculum Overview
The Design and Technology curriculum at Friern Barnet School provides students with the knowledge and skills to experience and interpret the world around us. It inspires the next generation to become inquisitive and resourceful individuals.
From the start of KS3 onwards, students learn to develop logical thinking skills and face challenges. By evaluating the work of past and present designers and innovators, students develop a critical understanding of their impact on daily life and the wider world. They will learn about context, purpose, collaboration, creativity, functionality, logic and impact.
Students become confident with a range of materials and processes and be able to combine these skills with an understanding of aesthetics, function, social, cultural and environmental issues. Overtime students become autonomous creative problem solvers with the confidence to make an impact on their world and the people within it.
At KS3, students learn through practical projects centred around research, drawing, technical skills, and creative problem-solving. They build confidence working with a variety of materials—such as wood, plastics, metals and textiles—learning how to shape them safely using both hand tools and digital technologies like CAD/CAM. Mathematics and logical thinking are woven into everything they make. KS3 Food moves beyond simple recipes to teach vital life skills. Students master essential techniques like safe knife work, heat control, and kitchen hygiene. They look at the principles of nutrition and the Eatwell Guide to understand how to plan healthy, balanced meals, while also exploring food provenance—learning where our food comes from, the impact of seasonality, and how our choices affect the environment.
At KS4 students have the opportunity to study Design and Technology GCSE and Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE, as one of their option choices. Their knowledge, skills and creativity are built on and developed in line with the exam board specifications.
The co-curriculum opportunities are an integral part of learning in Design and Technology. Students are encouraged to take part in collaborative tasks like the school production set and props, developing and making products for the makers market and planning, cooking and running a food stall at the Summer Festival. Opportunities to meet industry professionals as well as visits to exhibitions, taking part in workshops and entering design competitions are available to all year groups. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) events and opportunities are promoted to further build the knowledge and skills learnt in this department and their relevance in the workplace.
Please email Ms Kate Moore at k.moore@friern.barnet.sch.uk if you have any questions regarding Design and Technology.