We provide high quality resources that help pupils to improve their results in the STEM subjects. Our team includes award winning teachers and former senior and principal examiners from across a range of examination bodies. We understand that raising attainment and supporting the progress of learners is key to developing outstanding learning and teaching.
We provide high quality resources that help pupils to improve their results in the STEM subjects. Our team includes award winning teachers and former senior and principal examiners from across a range of examination bodies. We understand that raising attainment and supporting the progress of learners is key to developing outstanding learning and teaching.
These cards provide easy to follow instructions for 39 outstanding starters and plenaries. That's more than one great idea to try each week of the academic year! All have been proven to work in the classroom across Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.
This digital version of the cards is presented as printable A4 PDFs of both the front and back of the A6 cards (4 cards per A4 page) - ready for laminating and guillotining.
This resource includes:
39 outstanding starter and plenary activities (four per A4 page) as digital files for printing and/or laminating to create a set of cards (front and back of cards provided).
Word templates to assist in the delivery of some activities which may require worksheets for pupils/students to use.
This is a PowerPoint resource to guide pupils in understanding and taking practical steps to reduce the amount of stress that they might feel when preparing for and sitting their GCSE exams.
Exam periods can be very stressful times for pupils, particularly when sitting their GCSEs. This resource has been written by an experienced teacher with a proven track record of achieving outstanding exam results to help pupils to reduce the stresses that they may feel during this key period, and guide them in how to channel their energies positively.
This resource is suitable for any subject where examinations are a key component of the course, or can be used as part of a wider PSHE scheme of work.
Schools use attainment criteria to facilitate the assessment of progress. However, the Secretary of State for education has disapplied the attainment criteria previously used for Key Stage 3 Design & Technology. This disapplication gives the opportunity to adopt new assessment criteria, which more accurately reflect the development of skills that will be assessed in GCSE 9-1 Design & Technology.
The following descriptor statements are based on the NEA assessment criteria in the new GCSE 9-1 Design & Technology specification. They were developed by a group of examiners for use in their own classrooms. They were not prepared by, and have not been approved by, any exam board.
This is an Excel spreadsheet based tool to assist Design & Technology departments in ensuring that they are addressing all of the requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 Programme of Study.
Every project or significant activity in Key Stage 3 Design & Technology should be evaluated to determine which areas of the National Curriculum 2014 Programme of Study (PoS) are being addressed. Across any Key Stage as a whole, learners should have the opportunity to address every area - this will normally be achieved by addressing different requirements across several different projects. This resource can be used to identify areas where action is needed to improve how well the PoS is addressed.
Create outstanding customised starters and plenaries for your Design and Technology lessons in minutes!
This resource contains 60 slides. Its objective is to support literacy in the new GCSE D&T, by focusing on key terms in new and emerging technologies. The slides include picture recognition, cloze questions and anagrams. Simply copy and paste the appropriate slides for your own lessons.
This is suitable for use to support teaching of the new GCSE in D&T or at Key Stage 3. It has been written with direct reference to the AQA specification, which has been approved for first teaching in September 2017.
Create outstanding customised starters and plenaries for your Design and Technology lessons in minutes!
This is a full subject pack of the following resources, presented at a discounted price (seven resources for the price of six), each written for the AQA specification.
Starter or Plenary Slides for NEW GCSE D&T - Electronic Systems and Mechanical Devices
Starter or Plenary Slides for NEW GCSE D&T - Energy and Forces
Starter or Plenary Slides for NEW GCSE D&T - Environmental, Ecological and Social Issues
Starter or Plenary Slides for NEW GCSE D&T - Designing and Design Issues
Starter or Plenary Slides for NEW GCSE D&T - Manufacturing Tools, Equipment and Processes
Starter or Plenary Slides for NEW GCSE D&T - Materials and Material Properties
Starter or Plenary Slides for NEW GCSE D&T - New and Emerging Technologies
Each resource contains between 60 and 100+ slides. Their objective is to support literacy and numeracy in the new GCSE D&T, by focusing on key terms across the main topics of the GCSE specification. The slides include picture recognition, cloze questions, numeracy problems and anagrams. Simply copy and paste the appropriate slides for your own lessons.
This is suitable for use to support teaching of the new GCSE in D&T or at Key Stage 3. It has been written with direct reference to the AQA specification, which has been approved for first teaching in September 2017.
A 60 slide presentation, this pack has two purposes: reducing teacher workload and improving teacher understanding. It is designed to help reduce teacher workload and save time in sourcing and finding resources relevant to the NEA and context stated above.
It can be used to support the training of teachers regarding approaches to the NEA, for example, through presentation at department meetings or in teacher CPD time, or by individual teachers to develop their own knowledge and understanding of the NEA component of the AQA GCSE Design and Technology course.
Included in this resource:
Notes on how to use the resource.
General information about the NEA and context.
Example design briefs for the context.
Useful weblinks related to the context.
Example products for product analysis, related to the context.
Slides detailing what is required by each section of the NEA portfolio.
Suggested delivery routes for the NEA.
BONUS: Additional sheets detailing product analysis, specification writing and the use of SCARED for designing.
This resource is a set of time saving marking grids for providing formative feedback to students and recording improvements in their performance. It is linked directly to the 2014 Key Stage 3 Design and Technology National Curriculum. It has been used successfully in the classroom as presented, but can be adapted and modified to suit individual school and departmental requirements. It has been created by an experienced middle leader and advisor for the subject.
A marking grid is provided for each bullet point of the programme of study, split into the strands of Design, Make, Evaluate, Technical Knowledge and Cooking and Nutrition. The grids also include criteria for literacy and presentation skills within Design and Technology.
In addition to the main marking grids two types of student self assessment sheets have been provided as a bonus resource, one of each type for each strand of the curriculum.
Included in this Resource:
Instructions on how to use the resource and an example of how it can be used.
A marking grid for each bullet point of the KS3 programme of study (19 in total).
Student self assessment sheets - two types for each strand of the programme of study (10 in total).
A series of 19 worksheets designed to support literacy in Design & Technology, focused around the use of ACCESS FM for product analysis.
This resource comprises of:
A pdf document containing a series of worksheets.
A PowerPoint presentation, giving the answers to the worksheets.
The worksheets are designed to support literacy in technology, through the use of key terms, the development of correct recall and spelling. The worksheets range in difficulty from simple, such as wordlinks or missing letters, to more complicated, such as codebreakers or crosswords.
For some worksheets there is a differentiated version, where the possible answers are shown in a box below the puzzle. These versions could be used to provide additional support to lower-ability learners.
A series of 16 worksheets designed to support literacy in Design & Technology, focused around the design process.
This resource comprises of:
A pdf document containing a series of worksheets.
A PowerPoint presentation, giving the answers to the worksheets.
The worksheets are designed to support literacy in technology, through the use of key terms, the development of correct recall and spelling. The worksheets range in difficulty from simple, such as wordlinks or missing letters, to more complicated, such as codebreakers or crosswords.
For some worksheets there is a differentiated version, where the possible answers are shown in a box below the puzzle. These versions could be used to provide additional support to lower-ability learners.
A fantastic collection of more than 50 numeracy based brain teasers and puzzles. Great for use as engaging lesson starters in Maths.
The brain teasers are ranked by challenge level. They range from some suitable for key stage 3 through to problems that will present a challenge to GCSE and AS/A2 students.
Setting cover work can be a time consuming and difficult process that often has to be completed at short notice. That's why we created our Key Stage 3 D&T Cover Pack!
This is a pack of resources designed to help teachers and department leaders save time when setting cover work for Key Stage 3 Design and Technology classes. It contains a mixture of one-off cover lesson design tasks, literacy and exam style worksheets and mini-projects for covering longer term absence.
This resource does not include Food Preparation, Cooking and Nutrition. A separate cover pack will be made available shortly for this subject.
Included in this pack:
15 pupil activity sheets ideal for setting as one-off cover lessons. These are mainly design based activities but also cover other elements of the design process.
3 five lesson mini-projects with PowerPoint presentations and worksheets needed for delivery. Ideal for covering longer term absence.
30 worksheets focussing primarily on literacy and exam skills within D&T. Ideal as short tasks within cover lessons, or for when pupils have completed other set cover work.
Teachers' notes explaining best use of the resources.
This is an independent research task for learners to build and consolidate their knowledge of composite materials, using the aviation industry as a theme. It can be set as a homework or class based activity, or a mixture of both. Supporting the main task sheet is a short test that can be used to assess what the students have learnt at the end of the task.
This resource is suitable for supporting learning in Engineering, Product Design and Resistant Materials at key stage 4. In addition to developing subject knowledge the resource is also designed to help learners improve their independent learning skills and examination technique.
Included in this resource:
Suggestions for use.
Main research activity sheet/handout.
15 minute test set in the style of a short examination.
Mark scheme for the test.
This is the second edition of our popular Key Stage 3 Baseline Test Pack for Design and Technology. This edition presents an updated version of the initial two test pack with six new questions and an additional baseline numeracy test to match the increased focus on numeracy in the D&T curriculum.
This pack contains two alternative tests for accurate Key Stage 3 baselining in Design and Technology. These tests are designed to provide summative assessment at the end of Key Stage 2. For example, when a pupil is making a transition from primary to secondary school. Each test presents twelve multi-part questions covering every bullet point/topic area of the 2014 Key Stage 2 National Curriculum for Design and Technology.
The tests can be used by secondary teachers to evaluate what proportion of the national curriculum requirements have been addressed in primary school by each pupil.
This resource includes:
Two baseline test papers, each mapped directly to the 2014 KS2 National Curriculum for Design and Technology.
Mark schemes for each paper.
A pupil mark and feedback sheet.
A set of four worksheet based tasks that can be used in cases where schools require a baseline level to be set for each pupil.
NEW - A baseline numeracy test for D&T, testing Maths skills directly linked to the subject.
This is a PowerPoint based scheme of learning designed to teach Cooking and Nutrition and/or Catering to year 7 as part of the 2014 national curriculum at key stage 3. It has been written by an experienced Food teacher and has been fully tested in the classroom.
The resource is presented as a 36 slide PowerPoint based workbook that can be printed for pupil use and projected onto a whiteboard for teacher explanation/class discussion. It supports pupils in developing the underpinning knowledge for a range of food preparation skills appropriate to year 7. These include food hygiene, knife skills, oven management and the use of the Eatwell guide. It also includes suggested practical food preparation activities to support learning, the ingredients needed for each and self-evaluation sheets for pupils to complete after each activity.
The resource is fully editable and so can be customised to meet local requirements.
Included in this resource:
A 36 slide PowerPoint workbook designed to support pupils in developing their underpinning knowledge of key stage 3 food preparation skills.
Suggested practical food preparation activities to support learning and the ingredients needed for each.
This Excel based tool provides star charts that can be used, for example, in Food Technology. The appropriate tab can be copied and edited into other work books as required.
Create outstanding customised starters and plenaries for your Food Preparation and Nutrition lessons in minutes!
This resource contains over 60 slides. Its objective is to support literacy in the new GCSE in Food Preparation and Nutrition, by focusing on key terms in food safety. The slides include picture recognition, cloze questions and anagrams. Simply copy and paste the appropriate slides for your own lessons.
This is suitable for use to support teaching of the new GCSE in Food Preparation and Nutrition or at Key Stage 3. It has been written with direct reference to the AQA specification, but due to common content could be easily adapted for courses from other awarding bodies.
Create outstanding customised starters and plenaries for your Design and Technology lessons in minutes!
This resource contains over 70 slides. Its objective is to support literacy in the new GCSE D&T, by focusing on key terms in electronic, programmable and mechanical systems. The slides include electronic symbols, component recognition, cloze questions and anagrams. Simply copy and paste the appropriate slides for your own lessons.
This is suitable for use to support teaching of the new GCSE in D&T or at Key Stage 3. It has been written with direct reference to the OCR specification, which has now been approved for first teaching in September 2017.
Sustainability is a crucial part of Design and Technology and one of the topics at GCSE where pupils frequently make mistakes or show an incorrect understanding. This 20 page PowerPoint resource has been written by a former senior examiner for one of the three main examination boards and has been tried and tested with students in the classroom.
It introduces the 6Rs (rethink, reduce, refuse, repair, reuse, recycle), explains to learners what each means and shows how each can be used. It also introduces activities to help students to remember the 6Rs and demonstrate the knowledge needed for the examination.
It is suitable for the both the current and new GCSE D&T courses where sustainability and/or the 6Rs is covered by the specification.
What teachers have said about this resource:
'Thanks for this resource - well made and very useable for my students.' - SG
Create outstanding customised starters and plenaries for your Food Preparation and Nutrition lessons in minutes!
This resource contains over 60 slides. Its objective is to support literacy in the new GCSE in Food Preparation and Nutrition, by focusing on key terms in food choice. The slides include picture recognition, cloze questions and anagrams. Simply copy and paste the appropriate slides for your own lessons.
This is suitable for use to support teaching of the new GCSE in Food Preparation and Nutrition or at Key Stage 3. It has been written with direct reference to the AQA specification, but due to common content could be easily adapted for courses from other awarding bodies.
