TD&T123 Russell Hill KS3 curriculum

This week I'm talking with Russell Hill, award winning D&T teacher from Houlton School, about setting up a new KS3 curriculum.

Episode transcript

Mentioned in this episode
Houlton School

Twitter: @Mr_Hill_DT

Curriculum Overview - https://www.houltonschool.org.uk/curriculum-2/curriculum-overview/ 

Learning Journey (D&T - https://www.houltonschool.org.uk/assets/Documents/Letters/Learning-Journey-Design-Technology-v3.pdf

Ciaran Ellis posted a thought-provoking question on LinkedIn recently: Do design decisions involve value judgements?

What do you think? Join the conversation over on LinkedIn and let us know what you think. 

Transcript

Alison Hardy: 0:57

This week I've got Russell hill with me who we started chatting on social media. And I'm sure he'll remind me of all the other ways we've had conversations as well. So I'm sorry of us longer to be ignorant right from the start and not remember everything. And we are recording this in an evening after a long day at work for both of us. And but Russell's going to come on and talk about where he's out and what school is out. And also, we kind of were chatting about curriculum, because I'm really interested how people plan their D and T curriculum at the moment. So first of all, Russell, can you tell us a little bit about who you are, where you are and what you do?

Russell Hill: 1:28

Sure. So I am Russell, I currently work as a subject lead for creative. So I take care of designing technology, food preparation, and nutrition and art and design in a brand new free school that opened in 2021. So we've kind of got two year groups at the moment that presents its own challenges, but has also been an incredible opportunity to kind of build something from the ground up and build a department which champions everything that I believe in as a teacher, and obviously supports the aims of our school and our trust, who were a part of.

Alison Hardy: 2:09

Okay, so. So you've got two years, how many years will you ultimately have,

Unknown: 2:13

so we'll ultimately have your seven to 13. So at the moment, we are building the foundations of our Key Stage Three curriculum, so that it is ambitious enough to fuel future GCSEs. And, and Key Stage five. And whilst we, you know, we don't want to look ahead too much, because that could get terribly distracting. It's definitely always on the periphery of thinking because you need to have an idea of where these pupils are going. And I suppose within the design and technology, it's quite, it's difficult to prescribe any sort of GCSEs that might be there because we know when I when I was writing this curriculum and thinking about GCSE is may change in five years time. The world changes. So our curriculum, our Key Stage Three curriculum needed to be even more of a Creative Sandbox, if you like, and quite experimental in its in its form, to allow the pupils to carve out that GCSE offering. And that's

Alison Hardy: 3:24

a hold on, hold on, hold on. So I started one simple question, how many years you're gonna have, and we've now gone on? And there's quite a bit, there's quite a bit to unpick there. Yeah, the ambition is full seven years. I think some people are listening, they might not know what is meant by a free school. So can you tell us a little bit about your free school, and I'm also interested about why you decided to go and work in a free school.

Unknown: 3:49

So our free school, essentially, is a a funded by the government, but they're not run by the local authority. So I mean, essentially, for teaching staff and the leadership team, we have more control over what we do. Basically, we're non selective. So being a new brand new school, our our cohort came was came from really far away for the first year and a slowly, slowly got geographic closer, and reduced our catchment area. But that meant we had a big talent pool and of pupils, which was really, really nice and our communities really diverse. It also means that we don't have to teach the national curriculum, majority of free schools do and we do ourselves.

Alison Hardy: 4:40

So you following the GC fund, the national curriculum for design and technology, certainly are within the subject. Right. Okay. And so what took you there, what attracted you to it?

Unknown: 4:48

When I seen this brand new school advertised, I kind of kept it on my radar a little bit and kind of watched it be built via social media. I took a few car journeys down there and was a bit nosy. And I guess, if I went for the subject leader, role, it's quite big role for me to go to because I'd only been out of training a year. But I'm a little bit older, I guess. I've had a career before teaching that made me slightly more confident, I think. And I was looking forward to the autonomy that that role might provide me with what you've got massively. Yeah, our I think I had to do a bit of a sales pitch in the interview and in the recruitment process, in terms of what I believed design and technology should be and what it will potentially become. And they just believed in in me, I guess, and it's gone from strength to strength since not had it's it's not all been easy. I can't say that but it's certainly been is the best time of my life. Fit professionally? For sure. There's no doubt about

Alison Hardy: 6:04

how many of you all you new department at the moment me, just you don't need a view,

Unknown: 6:09

correct? Well, I have, I have a technician. Yeah. And I have non subject specialists teaching some art lessons. And then at the moment, we recruit for subject specialists in designing technology or food this coming year. First starting September,

Alison Hardy: 6:28

in September, okay. Yeah. So, people, people should sit up and listen if they like what they're hearing from

Unknown: 6:34

Absolutely, because we know there's a bit of a shortage, and we know the challenge that design and technologies subject is facing, so I want her to come along. Okay.

Alison Hardy: 6:44

So, so your key stage three curriculum, it's kind of still sort of embryonic. So can we just kind of like it's okay, stage three years? Seven, eight and nine. It is? Right. Okay. Okay, because some schools are still doing it. Yes. Yeah. It's kind of quite being made quite clear that that's not the way not the way to do it. So yeah. So so how have you designed it? I mean, I'm kind of curious about the fact that you're, you seem to imply that I might have picked this up wrong, that your key stage three curriculum is being driven by what might happen at Key Stage Four? Have I got that wrong?

Unknown: 7:18

No, I don't I to a certain extent, yes. I think I always had to think in my brain. Okay, I know, these pupils sitting in front of me, what are their skill sets? And what, what potentially, are the type of GCSEs that we're going to need to offer in four or five years time? And that changes and will be morphing. But I think more so what was more important when writing this curriculum specifically for designing technology was real breath. And a real focus on exploratory thinking, you know, with my ethos of process over product, and very much develop a an ambitious curriculum that gave these pupils the critical voice to carve out their own future.

Alison Hardy: 8:15

Right. Okay. So what do you might exploratory thinking, what's what's

Unknown: 8:18

so at the moment, our curriculum is based around our episodes of learning are framed around? The big question. And the big question sits at the heart of all of our episodes of learning. And it's a it's a question that builds investigation and skillfully becomes a catalyst for inquiry. And that big question, the bigger the question, the better. And actually, as a curriculum leader, that's really hard to do. It's really, really difficult to, to inspire children through questions, which are large enough for them to get to grips get to grips with, but also leave a massive space for them to go on this morass meandering journey of discovery.

Alison Hardy: 9:10

So these this model of the big question, is that just in design and technology, was that across the homeschool, it's across the whole school. Right? Okay.

Unknown: 9:18

Which some questions are bigger than others in different subjects, our subjects typically lend itself to being relatively brave in in our thinking, so we can be really big with our questions and quite open. And exploratory and, and really provide these pupils with a with a, with something to get their teeth into. And to spark their imagination.

Alison Hardy: 9:45

I always come to,

Unknown: 9:46

I always say a kind of good example is in science, if they, if they're teaching refraction, the big question might be how the rainbows work. And in order to find that out, they stay, they build the knowledge of refraction. That's just an example of how that question is, what's

Alison Hardy: 10:06

one and d and t, then?

Unknown: 10:07

Oh, gosh, so at the moment, yeah. Eight are trying to answer the big question Can products rescue humans? So they're looking at global issues around disaster relief, and how communities and populations survive, deal with and recover post traumatic events, political or natural disasters. And that's, that's been a really exciting one to do. And we're sort of at the beginning stages of it. So it's, it's right in my thinking at the moment.

Alison Hardy: 10:43

So so when you talk about an episode, how long does an episode last? I'm assuming we might call that a unit of work or a scheme of work?

Unknown: 10:50

Sure. So typically in designing technology, roughly about eight weeks, but I I think the beauty of having a curriculum that is quite flexible. A lot of my pupils will say, Oh, typically schools might work in rotations from going from design and technology, maybe on to food or art. And we do the same across design and technology and food preparation and nutrition. However, we have this brilliant flexibility of all we've not quite finished yet have we? Do you guys want to kind of get into this a little bit more, perhaps we need another week. And I can give them that other week. And that's been that has been so fruitful, that doesn't always happen. But that's been so fruitful and so important, because we don't truncate or restrict any learning. It's about letting the pupils carve out their answer. And if we haven't concluded or realised their work sufficiently, then we can always extend. And that's been really, that's been really nice to do.

Alison Hardy: 12:02

So how do you decide on so what the must do six, six big questions a year six episodes plus? And so over those six, they're doing half food half day into Correct, yeah.

Unknown: 12:14

So at the moment they do, we structure it. So they do a term in food, a term in design and technology, and then half and half in their final term. And that's, that's, again, that's been a bit of an experiment. We didn't start off like that in our first year, we, we tried to have them both working at the same time, and it didn't quite work. So and it could change again next year. You know, I think we need to respond to the needs of the pupils in front of us and

Alison Hardy: 12:45

to have with them, so I'm just gonna get some thoughts on it. We

Unknown: 12:48

have an hour a week. Right? Okay. Plus co curricular time, which for our school is mandatory. So they must do an hour a week, co curricular many of them, of course, choose designing technology. What do I mean by CO curriculum? So after school club, or a lunchtime club, and most of our work in design and technology over spills into co curricular? Because the pupils want to continue things or carry on with their

Alison Hardy: 13:25

work so so as your curriculum design, then what the children learn, is that driven by the big questions, or is a big question driven by what you want them to learn? Does that make sense?

Unknown: 13:35

Yeah, so it's a 5050, actually, so at the moment, because of the knowledge that they currently need to gain for key stage three, if we're for key stage four. For a designer technology GCSE, let's take the AQa spec. They need to learn sufficient knowledge for that. And it's a vast amount. So what's interesting is to map out the learning audit, if you like, of essential knowledge over a three year plan,

Alison Hardy: 14:10

and the national curriculum correct.

Unknown: 14:14

And think actually, well, you know, I don't want them making 30 acrylic phone holders in a class. So how can I structure or design a big question which enables them to gain experience in this material, that material, this process and that process, but also allows them allows each pupil to conclude the big question, with a different outcome. It's a real battle for a teacher because my life would be very, very easy actually, if I was to be, if I was to prescribe the outcome for each pupil, and say, at the end of these eight weeks, you are going to have made x y Zed. And I can take them through the steps to make it. However, I don't think that champions, what I've preached, and what what the big question is, that level of prescription is so restricting for me. And that was all the kind of thing that I was seeing stifle the subjects that I adore. The the level of critical analysis and thinking and ideation was just not there. It just wasn't happening with these pupils. And when I would say to them at the end, key Tommy, everything you've learned from making that, actually they would, they would really concentrate on, well, I sanded it really smooth. Or and they would get locked in with the actual manufacturing process. Rather than Can you tell me how this applies to the world, and how it's going to contribute to perhaps some innovative thinking or value, they really struggled with that. Whereas now it's flipped. So now you would walk into a walk into our studios, or you'd go into the ideas lab and you would say, to a pupil, this big question, what are you? What are you dealing with? And they'd spent probably 15 minutes talking to you about the recent Syrian earthquake, and how actually, aid was really difficult to get to those people because of the terrain. And that's a problem that I would like to combat.

Alison Hardy: 16:30

But is, is that design and technology knowledge, knowing about the Syrian earthquake? How's that? How's it doing? See?

Unknown: 16:37

Well, no, but it's, it's, it's, it's allowing them to build context around the design problem for me. And once they've tackled the design problem, and they've context mapped, and they've spoke about it collaboratively, and they've developed oracy, by presenting to a group, then it's about, okay, so you've identified the problem there, you now have your own brief. As a 1312 13 year old, I haven't given you a made up brief, that, you know, McDonald's need a new happy toy for their meal. This is a real world problem, how you

Alison Hardy: 17:16

might call that it's not, it's an authentic problem. And that's one of the, that's one of the things that comes out of the diente research is that we need to give children authentic context designed with him, you know, kind of fabricated.

Unknown: 17:28

Yeah. And I find that fictional worlds that some of that design and technology I had at school myself, I didn't buy in, I didn't buy into it, because it wasn't quite real. So we hear from and part of my job as a teacher is to put in front of them oral story histories from survivors of these particular products, just taking the current big question as an example. And they really buy in. So then you have design empathy that's starting to be built. And I believe, and time will tell when they hit Key Stage for all of the sitting in front of a blank piece of paper and thinking, What should I do? Will will not be that won't happen.

Alison Hardy: 18:13

So do you teach them? design strategies for understanding a context? So they have a kind of a repertoire a toolkit? Yeah. So give me give me example, about what what you've taught them, you know, that they've learned how to do in terms of analysing the context, understanding the context. Sure. So

Unknown: 18:30

we do a massive amount of context mapping, hierarchy of needs, and things like that. So they they've been taught, hopefully, successfully, when they are faced with a complex or gigantic problem to whittle, whittle it down. And they do that via context mapping. So another example is,

Alison Hardy: 18:57

just hold on ever, so. So for some people who are listening who don't understand what context mapping is, Can you can you talk us through that a little bit?

Unknown: 19:03

So really, quite actually sounds? It sounds very, very simple, I suppose it is. So you could do that with a who, what, where, and how, within a three sheet and split it into four sections. And you may provide some sub questions to those. So when we are watching a news report, or we are reading a story, or listening to somebody's experience, they will be making notes, whilst that is happening, or after that took to really build a context of and around the particular problem. The problem might not even be identified at that point, we might just be talking around context of our thinking, often we get them to use a lot of pink pen. So on that sheet, they may decide actually, well, I've just identified four problems on that sheet, and I'm going to circle the morning pink. Out of those four problems that they've identified, well, we'll think, Okay, we'll do another who, what, where half of one of those problems, and then we're getting really personal, we're probably identifying someone, maybe a demographic of people, maybe a location, and the specific problem that we might need to solve. And then based on that problem, then we think about hierarchy of needs, we think, Okay, what would that person place need at the moment in order to solve that problem? And only at that point, maybe three sheets of paper and lots of discussion later? We think, Ah, you need to solve that problem, don't you? And that's the that's what gets them excited because they have identified the problem. So you've

Alison Hardy: 20:50

you've taught them these two strategies is context mapping and the hierarchy of need. Is is this the first First scheme of work episode that they've come across those two strategies, whoever used those before

Unknown: 21:02

the abuse on from from day dot, right? Yeah, see, but

Alison Hardy: 21:05

are you adding new things to the repertoire didn't mean that they are they doing it more independently as well? Are they doing it more autonomously? What's happening?

Unknown: 21:13

Yeah. So when we know how they're progressing,

Alison Hardy: 21:16

you see record seven. So you're right, that's what I'm kind of trying to get. So,

Unknown: 21:20

year seven, some of the language might be very different. So it may not have introduced context mapping as as terminology. But we would say, Okay, well, let's think about, we would probably still use the who, what, why, when and how, but it would probably a little bit a little bit more prescriptive in terms of maybe I would give a whittle it to one particular real life person, right. And we may do to reduce the complexity, yeah, it becomes a little bit smaller. Right. Okay. And then we start to slowly introduce this is all about kind of improving their metacognition really, and then them becoming more self regulated learners. So as they get to year eight, me saying to them, okay, continue in your digital portfolio, which we do, so we don't use workbooks or anything, they could put that and compile that together very, very easily.

Alison Hardy: 22:22

Okay, so let's do this strategy of context mapping and hierarchy of need. They've kind of used consistently, but you've kind of taken away the scaffolding over time. Exactly that and allowed it to be more, more complex. So did they have other other strategies that you teach them around? Understanding a context? Yeah. Why What I'm curious about is, you know what's, because because that them learning about context mapping is that that's the knowledge that I learned there learning that this is a repertoire, something that I as a designer, as I go into is eight and year nine, I can choose to use do you see at some point, for example, in year nine, you give them a big question, and you hardly structure at all You say, Well, you've got all those different strategies that we've done in year seven, and eight in the first part of year nine. Now, it's for you to identify using whichever strategies you think is appropriate.

Unknown: 23:11

Yes, I think we probably see that more in our digital portfolios, very heavily scaffolded. in year seven, each slide gives a really, really descriptive task, and maybe maps out that context mapping quite a lot. And then as we go through, sort of towards the end of year eight, at the moment, there's hardly any scaffolding there. Maybe just the slide says contact mapping. And they would have to utilise those skills that they've learned in there. And then hopefully, towards year nine, actually, it would be up to them to use whichever strategy they want to or what whichever strategy is appropriate, whether it be a client interview, whether it be a context map, to to understand their context, it would get less scaffolding.

Alison Hardy: 24:05

So you do client interviews as well as part of their repertoire. Yeah, right. Okay. Yeah, we're just really curious about how these things can show up. I mean, how, how their, their knowledge around having these different strategies developed somewhere, they get to practice it and do the process of it. And where they do the process of it very structured, and where they do the process of it, you know, more more autonomously. So, so So in many ways, what you're doing is a very much an open, an open context that they then have to work through. So so how many children do you have in the class?

Unknown: 24:42

So we have 30? Data? 30. Right.

Alison Hardy: 24:45

So So potentially, you've got 30 doing different things?

Unknown: 24:49

Yep. Yeah, that's not unusual.

Alison Hardy: 24:52

So when they get through to the point of that they've got some design ideas that start to develop a model. What are you confident about them? All collectively, learning what there's going to be sufficient for them that they're, that they're learning about processes and materials. Does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely. And it's potentially doing lots of different things. How do you manage that?

Unknown: 25:15

Yeah. And it is a manage it is a task. It is something which takes a lot of managing. I think what's happened in the past, naturally, is that we have maybe 10, who are massively into 3d printing, for instance, maybe we have five that are massively into some metal work. And towards the moment when they're writing up their manufacturing plans, ready for making that gives me a really good idea of what everybody's doing. And based on what everybody's doing, we run in the workshop, we all All across the classrooms, actually, we might run sort of four or five different material or manufacturing process, sort of like mini workshops, if you like. And pupils can go around the room and visit those different activities. And it gives them like, it's like walking into a mini factory, I suppose. And thinking they need to select which manufacturing process is, is is suitable for their intended purpose. And part of that is a skill as well. Because we do end up with things that don't work, we do end up with things that have gone horrifically wrong. And maybe the idea and all of their work was great. And actually, it just hasn't worked out. For me, the most important thing is that they are able to stand there with real resilience and say, Oh, that was the wrong, that was the wrong process I used there. I shouldn't have made that with this material. I should have made that with another material. And we go bingo, do want to come and co curricular and make it again. And the hook there, then. Yeah, I think, and it doesn't always work. I really want to stress actually, you know, none of this is perfect. And it and it doesn't always work. And of course, I have pupils who are who their work doesn't work. And it's not been successful.

Alison Hardy: 27:20

But the way that you count of success. And that's

Unknown: 27:23

it, I think, and that's it because I made a promise to these pupils at the start that actually this department would be safe, secure. And it would be a place where failure is absolutely encouraged and not just expected. So we don't we don't display any finished work. We display everything that hasn't worked. And it's a rule of the department. So rather than having these Oh, God mind doesn't look like that, you know, on the wall that a year 11 has done a year seven wants to achieve actually all on the walls, our walls are celebrating failure. And whilst that's there all around them, they're not daunted no wall lasts less than somebody did that. And if that didn't work, just like it hasn't with you should have another go. Yeah, and I don't think you can, I think those are the skills that are missing. I've seen that with GCSE pupils. I've seen the resilience not be there. And and it stifles them. The creativity and the risk taking just is not there, right down from putting pen to paper all the way to what they might end up with manufacturing. And I think that's why over the country, we do have these little projects that keep appearing time after time after time. Where support were this really forward thinking and innovative subject, and it's incredible. But there are still some projects that are floating around the country that were there when I was at school that I made. And I don't know how we can expect these pupils to be the innovators of tomorrow and the problem solvers of tomorrow if, if that's what's being put in front of them.

Alison Hardy: 29:23

So your your philosophy seems to be that every every episode is a big question. Every context therefore is open. And therefore every episode is a it's a kind of a full design and make design and model. I'm not saying I'm using the word make a model kind of loosely in terms of recognising that, you know, we're doing prototyping rather than necessarily a finished product. Is that is that kind of how it's structured? Have I got that right?

Unknown: 29:50

Yeah, it's a process over product. We're interested in the process, not the product at this stage. And I always say to them little and often we're making but we're doing it little often.

Alison Hardy: 29:59

And what do you what do you see then, as we I'm kind of looking at the time, what do you see then, as being the thing that you are developing? What's your end goal? What's the big aim over three years in key stage three? That's a nice easy question to end on.

Unknown: 30:17

I want them to be it's this sounds very, very bold and our core values in the department that I came up with right at the start would be bold, be brave and be brilliant. And I always say if those if they end up coming out of Key Stage Three with those three things, and they are able to be bold in their designs and making they're able to be really brave in their creative risk taking because they've been bold and they've got this knowledge, then they will always be brilliant. Yeah. And if they can be the innovators of tomorrow, and the risk takers of tomorrow, then I have absolute faith that somewhere In that room of 30 pupils that I'm teaching will be that person that changes how we live tomorrow. Right? And that because he's such blind faith,

Alison Hardy: 31:07

so you said no. So you see you live, you live and die by what you're getting the children to you are bold, you are brave. And, and therefore, therefore, you must be brilliant.

Unknown: 31:17

Well, they might not. They might not say that. They might not say. But if I don't model it, yeah, absolutely. And we don't model it as a department. How can I, you know, I'm telling them, I start all up every year saying, statistically, one of you has got to do something that changes this world. And if I give them a promise, you know, it's my job to get you there. And I've got to create an environment where that happens. They're certainly not going to learn anything about that, from making a wooden jigsaw. No, no. Not in mind.

Alison Hardy: 31:56

Other things that they might learn that some of course, there might seem design and technology or essential.

Unknown: 32:01

Yeah, absolutely. Of course they are. But I'm really interested in then coming up with perhaps a new way, or a faster way, or a cheaper way. Because I think in future that will, that's where the value might sit,

Alison Hardy: 32:19

right?

Unknown: 32:23

It's a, like I say, it's, it's, this is a working? Yeah,

Alison Hardy: 32:29

I know. And I'm really, I'm really pleased, you've come on and kind of shared very openly about, you know, about what you're doing, because it is some people will think and this is, this is quite different. You've got you've got an opportunity. And I've deliberately asked you some difficult questions, which, you know, nobody ever comes on this podcast and expects an easy conversation, I know you into the full false idea that it's gonna be a nice conversation that I asked you provocative questions.

Unknown: 32:53

But that is really good, because it actually, you know, teaching is gonna be a reflective practice, you need those people don't you to, if you throw a ball, they're gonna bounce it straight back at you. Absolutely. Yeah. And as a maker, and as an artist myself, like, that's all the good stuff. You know, having that little debate with a 12 year old or an 18 year old? Is, that's all the really good stuff. Yes. Yeah. They say things that I don't know, you know, and challenge me. You know, and a pupil yesterday that came off. So, you know, that laminating wood thing? Can we would it work with a skateboard? And I said, of course it Yeah, absolutely would. So we spent the last kind of couple of weeks at lunchtimes making this skateboard. And we realised, actually, you know, it's probably just going to be for show, you know, you probably won't be able to use it. But that's a classic example of learning something in the classroom and then extending their learning, but actually, in his interest, and there's probably more learning there than a big question I'm giving them but without the big question, and without that ethos he might not have asked.

Alison Hardy: 33:59

Sure. That's great. You've created an atmosphere, you've created an atmosphere, fingers crossed. Yeah. Well, look, it's been really fascinating to hear about what you're doing. And you know, and the way you're approaching it, and it's got a whole school approach. But obviously, you're, you're interpreting that for for your design and technology work. And it's been, it's been fascinating. I'm hoping you've maybe got some pictures, I think people would be really interested in the displays and it with, you've got those on social media, anywhere that you could get links and maybe put them in the show notes that will be found, I think will be really fascinated.

Unknown: 34:26

What some people have asked for that they find quite useful is the is almost like a knowledge organiser with the big question with actually all the essential knowledge that sits underneath. I know because that's, it can be quite abstract in its nature. So actually, when we have this big question, I have to formulate all of the essential knowledge that comes around that. So we do that kind of on one sheet, and it's quite easy to kind of grasp that might be useful. Lots of people always ask for that.

Alison Hardy: 34:54

Yeah, just just one of those would be would be great would be great. And it was the Thanks ever so much for your time this afternoon this evening. That's been it's been fun. It's been really interesting. And I'm sure people wouldn't want to be follow up and maybe be in touch and come and visit and such. So

Unknown: 35:07

welcome. Thank you so much for having me.