St Marks Primary visit

On 1st February ten students from the yr10 Graphics GCSE group went to Saint Marks Primary School to deliver a Design & Technology workshop to year 6 students. The aim was for them to get a feel for what it is like to be a teacher for a day.

Ms M Austin – Work Related Learning Co-ordinator


This is what Connor Mackness had to say about experience:

“When we first got there we were all wondering if the class we had were a nice class, when we first walked in the room the children were wondering who we were and what school we were from. We then told the kids what we would be doing with them (making bird feeders) and then we got them to draw four or more designs of what they would want their bird feeder to look like; we got them to do this up until break time.

After break time we got the children in their groups to choose the best idea to make in their groups and then we got them to make it out of card, the making process took a little longer than we expected it to so we carried on making them after lunch. We gave the kids about 20 minutes more after their lunch time to finish making their bird feeders, we then got the kids to paint there bird feeders and make sure everything was how they wanted it to be.

Once everything was painted we sadly had to clean and pack up to leave, the day flew by but all of us still enjoyed ourselves and had a great time helping the children with the project.”

Interface Flor WRL project

As part of the Work Related Learning initatitive in Design &Technology, InterfaceFLOR came in to set a ‘live brief’ to year 10 BTEC Students. Textiles and Graphics worked collaberatively to produce inspritational tiles and promotional material.


Ms Austin – Work Related Learning Co-ordinator

Georgia Mould 10AG from textiles won a work placement with the company and here is what she had to say about the experience:

“For part of our coursework, we were asked to design and create 8 tiles for the company “Interface Flooring”, then present them to a representative of the company. When we were told about this, our fist task was to research the company. We found out that the work with environmentally friendly products.

A lady from interface flooring came in to talk to us about the project. We started thinking about how to create the tiles using recyclable, sustainable and found objects.

Then we started designing our tiles 10cm by 10 cm, and choose what theme or name we would give to our designs. We started to think about style and colour schemes that would run throughout the project.

Once we had our designs done we started making the actual tiles. We used a wide range of resources:glue, glue guns, wood, wax, paint, glitter, sequins, sawdust, paper and tissue paper. And anything else we could think of!

After we finished the tiles, we made mood board that reflected our tiles.

Hannah from interface floor came back in to judge the tiles. Each student in the class got their own table to decorate and set up their 8 tiles, mood board, research and textiles. When she came to each table she spoke to us about the tiles and the theme and how the ideas all came together. 3 students were awarded priizes: Justine Gilbert 10WY, Parise Bowerbank 10SD and Lizzie Lewis 10SC.

After that the school was told that two students had won a work placement at the company; myself and Fern Whiles!”

Eco Trip to St mary's Catholic Primary School

The Work Related Learning and Healthy Schools Initiatives collaborated by sending 2 students to a local Primary school to tell them a little about what we do.

Ms Austin  and  Ms Fitzgerald

Here’s what Daniel Benjamin & Zackary Youssef 10AS had to say about the experience:

On the 12th of November 2009 we went to talk to the school council of St. Mary’s Primary School about how they could reduce their carbon footprint and improve the local environment. We asked how long they thought certain objects took to decompose and to their astonishment it was a lot longer than they expected. We also explained to them the basic laws on littering in public places.

We also informed them of what was going in our school such as the allotment where we grow a variety of vegetables such as potatoes and pumpkins. They too had an allotment but not many knew what was going on in their allotment, since the visit they have become more interested in what their school are doing to help the environment.

It was a very valuable experience that we have gained many skills from and we hope that they have considered what we have said.

Luke Hughes Project

Luke Hughes Project

Recently, year 10 Resistant Material students undertook a design and make project. Two designers from Luke Hughes; a bespoke furniture company gave a presentation about what the company does. The range of project work that Luke Hughes undertakes was really interesting and gave a good insight into the industry. The project outline was to design and make a toy that had more than one function across two age ranges.

The students designed and made a variety of different toys with different functions. A lot of the projects were ambitious and needed careful design consideration. The judging was made by Wendy from Luke Hughes. Wendy listened to individual presentations from the students and presented a Prize to Luke Frost (Mr Shaw’s class) and to Robert Beckford (Mr Andrew’s class) Luke Frost designed and made a convertible highchair and Robert Beckford a puzzle frame that can be used as a picture frame when the child is older. The project had an authentic feel to it due to the links with industry.


From Robert Beckford winner of one of the prizes for the Luke Hughes Project

“I am a year 10 student studying Resistant Materials technology and have just won a £40 voucher for the Luke Hughes project. The objective was to design and make a toy with two functions; one a baby would find entertaining and the second that the child could use when it was older. I found the project hard at first but after I had completed my research I found it easier to narrow down my ideas. A lot of the class made either vehicles that converted into storage functions or tunnels that turned into bookshelves. I made a puzzle in a frame that can be turned into a picture frame later on. I really enjoyed the project throughout.”

Luke Frost- winner of one of the prizes from the Luke Hughes Project.

“I enjoyed participating in the project and I learned quite a few things. I learned to work from a given specification and to a given time limit. I also practiced my presentation skills because I had to present my idea to Wendy from Luke Hughes. I thoroughly enjoyed the project”

Primary schools 2010: St Marks Design and technology Week

Students from The Ravensbourne visited St Marks.

Design and Technology Community Project

On Friday 21st May a group of year 10 GCSE Graphics students went to St Marks Primary School to undertake a community beautification project. St Marks Primary School approached us, as part of the Design and Technology week, to ask if we were interested in undertaking a project to improve the environment of their infant play area. As this was an ideal chance for the students to work to a real life brief we were very happy to be involved and eagerly set about planning and preparing a mural for the area.

The Graphics students were split into pairs, each pair was given a panel of the fence to design a section of the mural based on the theme of ‘Mini Beasts’. The students were enthusiastic about the project and readily went about planning their layout. On the day we set off on foot to the primary school where we were greeted by an energetic group of infants. When they returned to class we set about drawing the designs onto the fence and then painting in the detail. They worked throughout the warm, sunny day to complete the mural by the deadline and the result was even better than we had anticipated a colourful array of mini beasts splashed across the fence with creative flair.

Thanks must go to Mrs Goulds who accompanied us on the day, her hard work and contribution is much appreciated.

By Ms B. Renwick

Design & Technology: Gifted and Talented trip to Paris

In the summer half term, a group of twenty-nine Design and Technology students were selected from Years 10 and 12 to visit Paris; commonly regarded as one of the design capitals of the world, in fashion and product design respectively. Accompanied Mr Shaw, Miss Thompson and head of Technology Ms Renwick, we experienced a jam-packed yet amazing four days!

We were all subject to a rather early start on the Tuesday morning; meeting time was 6.30am! We made our journey to St. Pancras where, once having gone through security procedures, we were able to board the Eurostar straight to Gare du Nord, Paris, via the Channel Tunnel. We were staying at Hotel Excelsior, which was less than a ten minute walk to the Notre Dame Cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in Europe. Hence, once we had unpacked our belongings, this was our first venture to a Paris landmark. This visit was followed by a (rainy) boat trip down the River Seine, where we were able to spot several major landmarks, many that we were due to visit during our stay. Dinner, in a small French restaurant, was a three course meal- two of which were crepes, which are of course considered a national dish in France.

Day two: today we were befitting tourists and visited three major hotspots. However we, as English students, were equally astounded when a double-decker tube appeared from out of the Metro tunnel! That is, once having got through the deadly full body-length barriers, and making sure not to lose our miniscule metro tickets! Our first destination was the Pompidou Centre; a modern art gallery that houses many interesting yet absurd works of art. The building itself is a piece of high-tech architecture spread over seven levels. Second on our list was the famous Louvre Museum; one of the largest of its kind in the world. As well as being an art museum, it is a piece of historical brilliance that attracts more than eight million visitors every year. You will not be surprised then that the museum was very busy! Our prior interest was the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, which is arguably the most iconic painting in the world. However the painting itself, secure beneath dense bullet proof glass, was a lot smaller than most of us had first thought. Whilst on our way from the Louvre, we passed the Arc de Triomphe, which is a monument for those who fought for France in battles, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. Our final notable site of the day was the Eiffel Tower. Despite some students (and teachers) being nervous about the descent, all 29 of us made it right to the top, where we were able to witness the wonderful panoramic view of Paris.

Our third day was the hottest yet, which made it perfect weather for our trip to Disneyland Paris. Many were disappointed that Space Mountain was shut, but found other thrills throughout the day, including The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror based upon a plummeting elevator, and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. Some of us even got to meet Disney Characters; proof that you can never grow too old.

Our final day had come round too fast, and was spent browsing the Parisian shops for some last-minute purchases. We had to be out of our hotel rooms by 10am, so had the rest of the day to spend on the streets. The textiles girls visited a museum; meanwhile a particularly adventurous Graphics student requested a plate of snails for his lunch. Our journey home on the Eurostar was quick, and we were back in England just before dusk. I know that we all enjoyed ourselves tremendously and would like to thank each teacher (including Miss Way!) for their contributions, as well as giving us a great time away! I’m sure that many of us will visit Paris again some time in our futures, but it won’t ever be as special as our first experience. By Annabel Quinton 12RE