IT WAS so encouraging to read James Dyson’s letter. As a previous head of design and technology I experienced first-hand the effects of short-sighted management destroying the subject as a direct result of the Government’s proposed changes.
In my six years at the school we managed to convince our mainly middle-class parents that the subject was relevant to their daughters, and turned the department’s A to C pass rate from the lowest in the school at 14 per cent, to the highest at 86 per cent.
Unortunately we never quite managed to overcome the widely held academic snobbery that eventually allowed the subject to be marginalised because it was not understood, and some were frightened by its new-found popularity with pupils of all abilities.
This subject is worth fighting for it is good to know that designers of Mr Dyson’s standing are willing to throw their weight to this fight. Where are the others?
Tony Ryan
Head of ICT
St Andrews RC school
Leatherhead Surrey
