Vocational Covid-19 Curriculum Statement
KS3:
During lockdown, Year 7 and 8 students took part in project work, which encompassed many the skills and knowledge that are taught through the Vocational curriculum. Students in these Year groups now are continuing with the knowledge content of our subjects and skills are being taught through demonstrations and home learning tasks.
During lockdown, Year 9 had the opportunity to begin their options subjects early, which gave us the opportunity to deliver an introduction to each of our courses and embed a strong base knowledge for KS4.
KS4:
During lockdown, the Vocational staff taught live lessons to Year 10 students. In DT, Hospitality and Catering, Engineering and Business Enterprise and Marketing, non-examined assessments (coursework) were introduced and students who engaged in lessons have made very good progress within this area of the curriculum. Computer Science continued to be taught in the same way, therefore lost learning has been minimised.
The Vocational department are confident that, if students engaged with the live lessons offered during lockdown, our teachings will have helped to reduce what would have been missed in the classroom.
We have outlined for each Year group below, any gaps in knowledge or skills that may occur during 2020-21 and explained how we plan bridge these to give students the best educational experience possible.
Hospitality and Catering |
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| Year | KNOWLEDGE Gaps in the Curriculum | SKILLS Gaps in the Curriculum | Curriculum Recovery (how we plan to bridge the gap) |
| 7 | N/A | Practicals: Fruit Salad Chocolate Krispies Pizza |
Students will be practicing a limited set of skills in the classroom, with the intention of them being equipped to perform a basic set of home learning tasks safely. Recipe cards and potential video demonstrations to be provided. |
| 8 | N/A | Practicals: Hedgehog bread Thai Green curry Dutch apple cakes Pizza |
We will not be carrying out any practical lessons in Y8 H&C. These skills will be further developed in Y9 through practical lessons or potentially through video demonstrations. The Y8 curriculum has been rewritten to include more knowledge about diet and nutrition which is also vital knowledge for GCSE. |
| 9 | Functions of ingredients – students learn about the functions of 4 main ingredients (Flour, Fat, Eggs and Sugar) through theory and practical experiments. This knowledge is not assessed at KS4 but supports students to understand and develop their practical skills | Practicals: Cheesecake Mini Quiche Calzone Pizza Flavoured Bread |
In Year 9 students are completing a Hospitality and Catering project, which also incorporates many elements of Enterprise and Marketing. Students are given a brief and must act as a member of the tourist board to complete a variety of tasks, which see them creating their own successful Hospitality and Catering provision. Students, who choose Hospitality and Catering at GCSE level, will be taught the functions of ingredients through practical work in Year 10. |
Hospitality and Catering |
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| Year | KNOWLEDGE Gaps in the Curriculum | SKILLS Gaps in the Curriculum | Curriculum Recovery (how we plan to bridge the gap) |
| 10 | N/A | Practicals: students are working through these at a slower pace (1 per fortnight in half term 1, moving to 2 per fortnight in half term 2) | During Half term 5 and 6 of 2019-20, Year 9 students were placed into their option groups and therefore started the course early. Due to this, Year 10 students have completed a Hospitality and Catering project, which is an excellent introduction to Unit 1 of the course. Practical (skills lessons will be built up over time) and we aim to do more in the summer term after the written exam, to catch up on any that have been missed. Students are progressing their knowledge of food hygiene and safety by completing an online qualification. Students will be accredited with the Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene for Catering certificate. |
| 11 | N/A | N/A | Students started their Unit 2 coursework at the end of Year 10 due to the cancelled exam. This means that students have had a head start with this element of the course. Practice (skills) lessons in preparation for the Unit 2 practical assessment, will start in Week 2 of Year 11 and student will complete 1-2 practical lessons per fortnight. |
Engineering |
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| Year | KNOWLEDGE Gaps in the Curriculum | SKILLS Gaps in the Curriculum | Curriculum Recovery (how we plan to bridge the gap) |
| 7 | N/A | Skills: Use of snips and saws | Most of the work planned for Y7 is able to go ahead. Pupils will be able to develop some practical skills through modelling with cardboard and stamping metal. The areas which they will miss out on (such as using snips and saws) will be shown through demonstrations and videos. Pupils will also have the chance to further develop these skills in Y8. The curriculum has been developed to include additional knowledge which will help pupils in Y8-Y11. |
| 8 | Students will not be able to design a circuit using YENKA. | Students will miss out on the practical elements which allow them to develop fine motor skills and proficiency in a range of processes, including soldering and making their own speaker. | The curriculum has been redeveloped into a plastics module which will help boost students materials knowledge base for year 9. Plastic product lifecycle issues, designing sustainably and topical issues such as plastic waste will be covered. Students will have an increased level of detailed demonstrations with practical equipment (vacuum former and line bender). Students will also work towards the development of a class outcome based on an introduced Context. In addition home learning tasks will aim to provide students with a number of small practical tasks. |
| 9 | Students will cover Knowledge areas in more detail. | Students will miss out on the practical elements which allow them to develop fine motor skills and profficiency in a range of processes, Including Filing,sawing,sanding,polishing. | The curriculum has been redeveloped to allow students as near as possible the same experience. In place of the practical skill sessions students will perform a number of design modelling tasks. There will be an increased level of detailed in demonstrations and the intention is to video some of these to allow for learning at home as well. Students will work towards an end product per class rather than individual items. Home learning will encourage students to undertake small modelling and analysis tasks at home. |
Engineering |
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| Year | KNOWLEDGE Gaps in the Curriculum | SKILLS Gaps in the Curriculum | Curriculum Recovery (how we plan to bridge the gap) |
| 10 | To recognise the different stages of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). To suggest the impact materials and products have on our planet. To know the basics of steel extraction and production. To name a range of metals and identify their properties. To consider the different career options within Engineering and possible routes into the industry. | To use your research to design a suitable pendant. To develop practical skills and create a template for your design. To develop practical skills including drilling. To develop practical skills including sawing, filing and pewter casting. To develop sawing and filing skills. | The BTEC content will be delivered from the start and we will cover all areas. Some students have missed Year 9 knowledge and skills listed but these will be retaught at year 10. |
| 11 | Exam content | Drawing skills | Pupils were all entered for the exam and have been given the grades, this has left us with 6 weeks missed lessons on drawings. As pupils during lockdown focused on the assignment AIM A which we would have done in SEP-DEC we have the time available to complete the course |
| Business Enterprise and Marketing | |||
| Year | KNOWLEDGE Gaps in the Curriculum | SKILLS Gaps in the Curriculum | Curriculum Recovery (how we plan to bridge the gap) |
| 10 | N/A Lessons being delivered as normal | N/A Lessons being delivered as normal | Students started the course early during lockdown and had the opportunity to build their knowledge and skills prior to Year 10, this was delivered by pupils completing two projects. The first was based around marketing a new box and coming up with a new product. Then they had to create a customer profile, decided on a final product, and then sketched a design and finally creating a business plan. The second project was to design a new cereal product. This involved research, such as market research and primary research (by designing a questionnaire and analysing the results). Finally they had to focus on planning the product and packaging, including advertising and pitching the product. |
| 11 | N/A Lessons being delivered as normal | N/A Lessons being delivered as normal | Lessons were being delivered as normal throughout lockdown, with all resources provided via Google Classroom, focusing on delivery for the exam preparation and coursework. The exam board have said that students only have to do two out of the three units, Either R064 & R065 OR R065 & R066. All students will sit a number of mock papers to see how much knowledge they have retained and to see the gaps in R064 to decide if we go for the Exam route or coursework route. Regardless, all exam content (RO64) will be covered before Jan 2021. All students have been planned to be entered for R064 in Jan as they are allowed 2 attempts. Revision guides have been purchased and lots of other revision materials are available for the students online. Students will continue with coursework of R065 and aim to complete by October half term. |
Computer Science |
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| Year | KNOWLEDGE Gaps in the Curriculum | SKILLS Gaps in the Curriculum | Curriculum Recovery (how we plan to bridge the gap) |
| 7 | N/A Being delivered in the lesson | Have the skills to be able to log onto the school computers using their username and password – Understand the resources used in Computing (Google suite) and have a basic knowledge on how to use these properly – Know how to use Google Classroom effectively – Understand how to navigate the Windows file and folder system effectively.Programming Skills Pupils are introduced to visual programming (Scratch) in Year 7, but will be unable to practically do this in lesson time without the use of computers. |
Lessons being taught as normal and all resources for lessons are available on google classroom. The class teacher will do demonstrations of how to complete tasks. Students will be set home learning to showcase their skills. |
| 8 | N/A Being delivered in the lesson | Programming Skills Pupils continue to develop programming and are introduced to textual programming (Python), and will no longer be able to develop these skills in lesson time without the use of computers. |
Lessons being taught as normal and all resources for lessons are available on google classroom. The class teacher will do demonstrations of how to complete tasks. Students will be set home learning to showcase their skills. |
| 9 | N/A Being delivered in the lesson | Programming Skills Pupils continue to develop programming skills in Python and learn more advanced techniques, will no longer be able to demonstrate this in lesson time. |
Lessons being taught as normal and all resources for lessons are available on google classroom. The class teacher will do demonstrations of how to complete tasks. Students will be set home learning to showcase their skills. |
| 10 | N/A | N/A | The Computer Science course has been updated from J276 to J277. This means that the Programming project (NEA) is no longer required as programming is now assessed in paper 2. A head start has been made on knowledge/skills with Y10 as pupils took part in some GCSE content through lockdown. |
| 11 | N/A | N/A | The NEA is no longer required to be completed during lesson time (was previously required to demonstrate that I have dedicated 20 hours of lesson time to complete it), therefore some time has been gained in Term 1. |
Design and Technology |
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| Year | KNOWLEDGE Gaps in the Curriculum | SKILLS Gaps in the Curriculum | Curriculum Recovery (how we plan to bridge the gap) |
| 7 | NA | Loss of hands on practical skills development within the workshop using tools and machinery relevant to the project. Such as; hegnersaws, tenon saws, coping saw, abrasive paper, stains and paints and screwdrivers. | Numerous processes and skills videos have been built into the lessons. Students will identify and write up how each tool/machinery is used with QC controls for each. Students will gain an understanding of how the tool/machine is used with materials. Offer students after school club sessions next year so that students can gain hands on practicel skills by making a mini workshop project. |
| 8 | NA | Loss of hands on practical skills development within the workshop using tools and machinery relevant to the project. Such as; hegnersaws, abrasive paper, wood-working finishes, standard components, screwdrivers, pyrography pens. | Build in numerous processes and skills videos into the lessons. Students will identify and write up how each tool/machinery is used with QC controls for each. Students will gain an understanding of how the tool/machine is used with materials. Offer students after school club sessions next year so that students can gain hands on practicel skills by making a mini workshop project. |
| 9 | NA | Loss of hands on practical skills development within the workshop using tools and machinery relevant to the project. Such as; 2d Design, laser cutter, solvent glue, assembling processes skills. | Build in numerous processes and skills videos into the lessons. Students will identify and write up how each tool/machinery is used with QC controls for each. Students will gain an understanding of how the tool/machine is used with materials. Offer students after school club sessions next year so that students can gain hands on practical skills by making a mini workshop project. |
| 10 | NA | Students will be losing out on some practical skills. Including; setting up and using the pillar drill and using the automated sanding disks. | There are no theory gaps in learning as all theory lessons are still being delivered. There are a few practical gaps as highlighted due to use of the classroom. Practical projects will still be delivered, however as they are being delivered in 1.00 and not in the workshop we will not have access to some of the workshop machines – this means that there are gaps in skill development with these particular machines. Students will have the opportunity to develop skills using the machines and tools mentioned next year in year 11. Students will also have the opportunity to develop skills on these machines once after school session are up and running again. CAD designing project lessons are being delivered this HT1. In HT2, the plan is to deliver a practical project in 1.00 using hand tools and the hegnersaws, which can be transported across. Technician will prepare sanitised tool trays for students etc. |
Design and Technology |
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| Year | KNOWLEDGE Gaps in the Curriculum | SKILLS Gaps in the Curriculum | Curriculum Recovery (how we plan to bridge the gap) |
| 11 | Unit 2 exam content knowledge
Investigation section of the coursework |
Skills in vacuum forming, making a mechanism, making a linkage, applying finish to products | Currently putting theory/exam lessons on hold and using both double lessons to get students on top of coursework (this is 50% of the GCSE – AQA are still taking into account fully both sections of the course). Students will complete the investigation aspect of their coursework within the next two and a half weeks, after which we shall make a start on the design aspect of the coursework. As part of the coursework students need to conduct practical investigations before they start to make their final prototype – This section (time) of the course will be used to help students develop their practical skills which they missed during lockdown – this will aid them in making a good or better final piece. Once students have started the practical making aspect of their coursework, the plan is to start delivering exam content again as it is key to ensure that students are still prepared for the exam – at this stage, ‘reading the exam question’ lessons will also be delivered. Further, exam content lessons will be set as home learning for revision so that the theory learning is reinforced, and will continually be assessing levels of progress throughout. |
Welcome to the Vocational Department
The Vocational Department consists of six subjects; Business Studies, Computing, Design & Technology, Engineering, iMedia, and Hospitality & Catering.
Design and Technology, Engineering, and Hospitality & Catering are inspiring, rigorous and practical subjects which prepare all young people to live and work in the designed and made world. These subjects provide opportunities for students to develop their capabilities, combining their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding in order to create quality products.
With Business Studies, Computing, iMedia we endeavour to give students an in-depth understanding of how business and computer technology works. Offering real-world insights into what goes on behind the scenes.
Meet the Vocational Department
The department team consists of 12 members of staff. These are:
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Miss J Edwards | Head of Department, Teacher of Hospitality & Catering |
| Mr S Oliver | Deputy Head of Department, Teacher of Computing |
| Miss N Hussain | Assistant Head of Pastoral, Head of Year 11, Teacher of Engineering |
| Mrs T Larkin | Teacher of Business Enterprise & Marketing, Hospitality & Catering, Engineering and Computing |
| Mrs A Khan | Teacher of Design and Technology |
| Mrs N Osbourne | Teacher of Computing and Business Enterprise & Marketing |
| Mr M Hart | Teacher of Engineering, Hospitality & Catering and Computing |
| Mrs S Brown | Teaching Assistant |
| Mr D Heaton | Teaching Assistant |
| Mrs A Barwell | Teaching Assistant |
| Ms S Menendez | Design and Technology Technician |
The aims of the Vocational Department are: