Art, Design & Technology

The Department of Design & Technology

The department of Design and Technology continues to progress from strength to strength as the subject changes and adapts in response to the shifting UK curriculum. With the re-launch of the National Curriculum for D&T, which will see schools teaching 3D printing and potentially cooking with insects from September 2014, and the announcement that schools UK wide will be able to use GCSE qualifications as part of its 8 A*-C grade league table figures, D&T at St Olaves Grammar School is set to maintain and grow in stature at the school. With no changes in staff and an increase in the range of activities available through the department, D&T at the school is better than ever.

performance, there was exceptional design work from the group which included Jing Lu’s handy cheese grater, Dasha Veysey’s child’s self-powering torch, and a mean looking barbeque fan from Keir Bowater - all great concept designs and worthy of note.

Results

In September 2012 the department were honoured to publish its latest exam results. GCSE Design and Technology remains a fantastic subject studied by boys across the school, and with all but one student achieving an A* or A grade at GCSE level, the department have once again performed above expectations. Despite the challenge becoming harder year on year to achieve the A* and A, students continue to perform well and have been pushing the boundaries of what can be designed and made. Exceptional work from the Year 11 students included products by James Gibb who designed a chopping board system, Gihan Fernando who produced a beautiful cricket bat stand, and Akkilash Raveenthiran who developed a unique Apply style wooden MP3 player.

At AS Level, Product Design suffered a drop in exam performance despite exceptional continued performance in the coursework aspect of this first sixth form year. A national trend of marks dropping 2 or more grades has resulted in disappointing grades for the cohort, and despite the active challenging of the exam board to review the “sudden shift” in the way the mark scheme is applied to assessment, the department have sadly not been able to move the marks. In response this year students taking on the AS course in September 2014 will be able to study AQA Product Design instead of OCR Product Design. This new course will offer a much easier transition from GCSE to AS Level, and alongside a traditional exam will see students design and make a quality product, which will now form a new feature of the AS course. Despite the disappointment in exam

At A2 level the performance was as expected with all students achieving their target grades or going above them. Christopher Self continued to excel in the subject with the only A* the department has ever seen at A2, a testament to his hard work developing a builders Acro as part of his major Year 13 project. His work developed a unique geared system for supporting collapsing roofs, which was worthy enough to be sent as evidence of “excellence in engineering” to every single school in the country by the Young Engineers “Engineering Solutions” programme. Michael Odufisan and Max MacDonagh go on to Loughborough University to study Industrial Design on the back of success in the subject, whilst Sam Rix has earned himself a prestigious place on an Architectural course at UCL. Thomas Heslop has gone onto continue his creative studies at University, whilst Tanmoy Banerjee has earned a place on a Mechanical Engineering course. William Dalton goes on to study outside of the creative industry, to round off a very successful year for A-Level Product Design, and we look forward to the work our current Year 13’s will go on to produce this year. A growing trend of students choosing design and engineering related courses having studied Product Design is exactly where the department want to progress, so we are very excited to continue to support the future progression of excellent students who study at our school.

Projects

Last year students saw a revamp to the projects at Years 7 to 9, with the inclusion of food at both Year 7 and 8 for the first time, the introduction of end of year exams for each year group using online self-assessing tools, and three new exciting projects at Year 9 in anticipation of the new three year GCSE courses, which will include lighting, clocks and robotics. As part of the development of the subject the department are exploring the offer of Product Design at GCSE, Graphic Products at GCSE, and the potential of a Robotics GCSE in the future (from 2015). Work at every level, from Year 7 to 13, has seen dramatic change as staff push students to go above and beyond the norm and be as creative as possible without fear of failure. Excellent work was evident in Year 9 as students designed unique articulated robot characters, students applied Dye Sublimation to clock designs, and

Autodesk Inventor software slowly fed its way into the everyday design work of students.

Food

Food technology continues to grow in D&T. Last year saw more students than ever take part in a food club, whilst two regional competitions, the Kent Young Chef and the Springboard Food Competition, saw students design unique dishes to cook for a judge to taste. Rishil Patel in Year 10 performed exceptionally well cooking a two course meal in a professional kitchen alongside some of the regions best chefs. The competition as always was fierce, and sadly Rishil did not make the finals despite cooking a great meal.

Year 12 continued to develop their life skills by all studying and passing the Level 2 Food Hygiene certification. This will grant all students opportunity to work in a kitchen when they leave school, to handle and prepare food, and also to sell their own food as an entrepreneur if they wish too. We hope none will end up working a McDonalds!

Trips & Competitions

The department continues to develop the designers and engineers of tomorrow, and trips organised last year were aimed at the provision of D&T learning outside the classroom. A visit to Brompton Bicycles, a UK manufacturer and exporter or fine handmade bicycles was a high for students, who were privileged to see firsthand the welding of frames, the product development of 3D printed product solutions, and the business model for marketing globally a very British product. The sheer pride of being able to stamp “Made in Britain” on each and every bicycle was the clear reason the company had such success since launching in 2004. Students applied the learning directly into coursework back at school by preparing marketing presentations for their own products, and designing their own brands and website.

The Design Museum, as part of the Design Ventura competition run for another successful year by Ms Hawley, was host to a fantastic workshop for Year 9 to 11 students. Into our third year of the competition in which we have previously finished in the top 5 in the country, expectations were high again this year in anticipation of our boys developing even better conceptual products for the museum shop. A group of students from Year 10, who developed a sustainable belt from a used bicycle tyre, was chosen to represent the school at the National competition. The boys again achieved success, earning them once more recognition with a certification and nomination for Sustainable Design, but sadly not the top prize. The growth in interest in the competition is reflected in the success of the department, who for three years are the only school UK wide to reach the final 10 for every year the competition has ran.

The Toyota Stem Challenge once again saw Year 10 students building a solar powered car to support the learning around Sustainable Design. This year students negotiated the early knock out stages to be pitted against the top 10 schools in the South of the UK at a regional final at the Imperial War Museum in Cambridge. The boys performed exceptionally well and enjoyed the day. Despite not making the final, there was a lot learnt about how to work as a team, build and develop a product, and take ownership of a new technology. We look forward to seeing the competition next year and widening the age groups who take part.

VEX Robotics

For the first time last year, students began to study and work with robotics. One group of Year 10 boys represented the school at the Big Bang Show Event at the London Excel centre. Over a three day event, boys built from scratch a robot that would compete head to head against robots from schools who would have had nearly a year to prepare. The boys performed exceptionally well, beating schools from across the country, but only managing to negotiate up the score board enough to ensure they were not at the bottom, and not high enough to progress to the top 24 knock out stage (of 34 teams). The group were awarded the “Judges Award” for exceptional work and effort over the three days, gifted the robotics kit worth £800, and were invited back next year to compete once more for the prize to fly to California to attend the World competition. The winning team, a girls team from East Barnet, went on to represent the UK in California, but we hope to be there instead next year.

On the back of a successful entry to the VEX National competition, the department launched an internal robotics league, with teams from year 7 to 10 fighting it out every Wednesday in a VEX Robotics league called Sack Attack. The winners, a team from Year 9 called the “Machines” won the league to earn a paid place in the National competition next year. A further knock out competition cup style event saw another Year 9 team win £100 in VEX kit to develop their robot. We hope the growth and interest of our boys in robotics in the department will see students studying GCSE Robotics in the future, or developing an interest in AS Product Design – Electronic Products, or entering the World Skills UK competition in which sixth form students can design and make robotic solutions against the best in the country. Exceptional work as a team resulted in VEX boys raising £600 from Hexbug sales to buy more kit and materials for the club, and we hope to expand next year to offer a Year 7 only club to enhance what the department offer.

The Arkwright Scholarship scheme

Once again the department achieved a fantastic result in the Arkwright Scholarship scheme. Despite more candidates from more schools applying for the scheme, and less scholarships nationally being available, the department continues to see success, with 4 new scholars joining 5 existing scholars at the school. Each will be awarded funding throughout sixth form and will have opportunity to work at the very highest level in design, engineering and industry leadership. Students this year have mentors at fantastic local and national companies which include BAE Systems and the MoD.

On the back of last year’s success, staff in the department refitted the classroom D3 with new flooring, tables and equipment to turn it into a fantastic study room for sixth formers of D&T. The room also provides a quiet space to study, design and make, and pupils benefit from comfortable seats and space to spread their projects out.

Next year we hope to have equal success in the Arkwright Scholarship scheme, which will run alongside a new Crest Award scheme to credit students studying D&T with a D of E equivalent award for UCAS applications. All students next year taking part in the VEX club will earn a Silver award.

3D Printing has arrived

Whilst budgets continue to tighten, modern technology moves on and the department continue to keep up with new trends. In the new Arkwright room students have access to not one but two new 3D printers, allowing them to print out virtual models they have designed. Students have managed to develop tools, fixings, toys and characters to print, and in doing so are learning about a world changing piece of technology that will benefit everyone one day. As part of the department becoming a Digital D&T centre of excellence, the department has access to the latest technology and software to support students in their learning. Next year the department will become a Teach Design Tech Centre, and a VEX Robotics Centre of Excellence, in response to their work with VEX Robotics and 3D printing. The department will also receive a further 4 3D printers to grow this technology into more everyday workshop activities.

The Department of Art

The Art department has been a hive of creativity this year, with students continually pushing the standard of work. Every year group has contributed to the departments highlights. In the lower school, Year 7s produced imaginative human sculptures, Year 8s created ‘Identity’ themed Totem Poles and Year 9 animated stop-motion films, often with humorous results. Our KS3 students also won the prestigious ‘Bromley Schools Digital Art Prize’. GCSE students took trips to the several London Galleries, collecting inspiration for their projects. The sixth form Art trip to Amsterdam was a huge success, with students having the opportunity to visit the Van Gogh Museum, The Rijks Museum and Anne Frank’s house. The most admirable areas of the department are the clubs and societies, run by the students themselves. This year ‘Art History Society’ came into being, boasting a wide range of high quality talks and a loyal cohort. The Art prefects have given a new lease of life to Art club, running fun and engaging activities for the lower school including sculpture projects and spin art. The year culminated in a breath taking sixth form exhibition held in the chapel. This showed a wide range of inspirational work, much of which demonstrated sophistication and skill well beyond the years of the student. It was in the beautiful, and often emotional, film work that the students really epitomised the strong link between technical skill and creativity that the department is always striving towards. Congratulations to all the students and staff for a truly fantastic year.

Siobhan Heraghty S___Head of Art

Year 11 Art Trip

On the Tuesday 23rd October Year 11 Art students visited London as part of the preparation for their current Controlled Assignment entitled ‘Great Britain’. They visited an interesting contemporary exhibition and talk at the Saatchi Gallery just off the Kings Road followed by an open-topped bus tour of sites and attractions.

Year 10 Art Trip

On Tuesday 2nd October the Year 10 Art group went on a visit to London and a variety of galleries and museums. The day started at the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe with a fascinating talk about the first ever tunnel under a river in the world. The group then walked along the Thames river bank, stopping and discussing the changes in London and the way the river has been used. There is still plenty of historical evidence in the old cranes, docks, buildings and views of the history of the river. 3000 ships at the height of the British Empire on the Thames at any one time.

The group also visited an American artist’s show at the White Cube gallery in Bermondsey Street, just behind the old St Olave’s school in Tooley Street. Further walking then followed past the Globe and along to The Tate Modern. The Turbine Hall was the site for a conceptual piece where members of the public are approached and engaged in conversation about peoples’ stories. Several of the group were thus engaged.

The purpose of the visit was to record people and environments in London, to be used back at school for Art project work. Thanks go to Miss Heraghty and Mrs Smith for accompanying the group.

Year 10 Maritime Museum Trip

As part of their introduction to GCSE Photography the year 10 artists visited the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to be inspired by the photography of Ansel Adams. Displaying a huge range of epic landscapes in his distinctive dynamic style, students were impressed by the iconic and beautiful images of American nature. A highlight of the exhibition was the documentation of water in its varying forms; ranging from exploding geezers, to still, reflective pools and churning seas. Students had a chance to leave their mark on the exhibition by leaving comments on how Ansel Adams had inspired them. There was just enough time to take photographs of the newly restored Cutty Sark before returning to school. Many thanks to the staff involved.

Royal Academy of Art Life Drawing

On Tuesday 5th February, the Year 12 and 13 Art students spent the day in the Pavilion attending a life drawing class arranged by the Royal Academy Outreach programme, with a model and tutor.

It was a very intensive day spent exploring various ways to portray the human figure. Working on the floor, on a wide variety of exercises and in different media, the idea was to widen the perception and approach to drawing. Life drawing is probably one of the hardest challenges and this was the first time that some of the students had attempted this task. It was a tiring day, both physically and intellectually, but all students worked very hard and produced some excellent outcomes.

Bromley KS3 Art Exhibition

This year’s Bromley Key Stage 3 Art exhibition was held at Hayes school on Thursday 7th March offering all schools in Bromley a chance to showcase their Key Stage 3 Art work. As in previous years, the visually stimulating artwork, including those submitted by St Olave’s students reflected the talented artists in the Key Stage 3 cohort and we were thrilled to win the prize for the best digital artwork in the Borough.

Year Eight Totem Poles

Taking inspiration from contemporary imagery and tradition methods, Year 8 produced a series of fantastic Totem Poles during an extra-curricular day. Each student carved and painted their own block of wood which were then attached together to create striking sculptures. Well Done to the entire year group for all their hard work.

Art Exhibition

This annual event was again typified by the quality and variety of art work produced by Year 12 and Year 13 artists. There were paintings, sculptures, reliefs, graphic designs, photographs, films and timelapse and the external examiner commented on the wide range on show. A few pieces have been chosen for the Creative Work section of this magazine, and can be found towards the front.

VI Form Trip to Amsterdam

The 6th Form art group spent Activity Week 2 enjoying the cultural delights of Amsterdam. We visited a wide variety of galleries- not just the famous ones. The newly refurbished Rijs museum for older artworks, including Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’, delightful gems by Vermeer and many other famous artists. The Van Gogh museum, with the accompanying audio tour taught us all a lot about his techniques and life. The Stedelijk modern art gallery was probably the most popular with a huge variety of modern works displayed in the recently opened extension.

Other delights were the Cheese Museum,The Fluorescent Art gallery or Electric Ladyland and the Foam photography and David Bowie exhibitions. A canal tour and various markets completed a varied and stimulating visit to a fascinating city. Many thanks to Mrs Smith for her organisation and patience.