The overview of the design and technology teaching in primary and secondary schools from the Office for Standards in Education offers a picture that can best be described as very mixed, according to the Ofsted Subject Reports for 1999-2000 (www.ofsted.gov.ukinspectsubjects.htm).

The good news is that:

* Pupil achievement in one in five primary schools is good. At key stage 3 it is one in four.

* Primary and secondary pupils are good at making things.

* Most primary Damp;T teaching is satisfactory. In nearly two-thirds of secondary schools, teaching is good.

* Standards and the quality of work in Damp;T have substantially improved in a quarter of primary schools.

* Subject leadership is good in one third of schools.

* The use of ICT in computer assisted design (CAD) is improving pupils’ work in some schools.

* More pupils are becoming adept at using the internet for research and investigation; older pupils use ICT simulation software to model their design ideas in food technology and electronics.

The bad news is that:

* Pupil achievement is unsatisfactory in one school in eight at KS1 and one in six at KS2.

* Primary pupils are less good at designing than at making.

* Primary Damp;T teaching is seldom very good.

* Standards and quality of work in Damp;T have deteriorated in one school in six.

* In both primary and secondary schools, Damp;T teaching is weaker than in other subjects because of teachers’ “insecure” knowledge and understanding of the subject and the lack of opportunities for Inset.

* Nearly one in five secondary schools fails to comply with the national curriculum requirements for Damp;T - a slight increase.

* Subject leadership is generally weaker in Damp;T than in other subjects.

* Accommodation for Damp;T is poor in a third of schools and is steadily deteriorating.

Setting a good example: For an insight into good practice, Painsley Catholic High School in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, gets top marks from Ofsted for teaching Damp;T to a high standard, yielding GCSE results well above the national average.

Pupils produce original products. For example, a pupil’s maze game used a combination of materials in its construction and specially designed electronics.

Pupils develop skills in using an increasing range of processes and materials, including food, textiles, wood, card and acrylic (but not metal). Year 8s, for example, produced a desk tidy to their own design constructed from acrylic and using a heat-strip machine to shape the material.

Pupils take responsibility for their learning and show initiative. One Year 10 pupil decided to use a vacuum-formed product when other pupils were using card to make a three- dimensional item for a hotel room.

Teachers’ expectations are generally high and lessons are planned effectively. Pupils working on systems and control activities, for instance, were expected to design circuitry using ICT, including the manufacture of the circuit board to function within the prototype item.

REVA KLEIN