Buoyed by the success of its primary website, the Nuffield Design and Technology Project has launched a sister site for secondary schools. Nuffield staff and publisher Longman have created a range of downloadable materials to support key stage 3 and 4 teachers.

KS3 resources include case studies, chooser charts, student review and self-assessment sheets, and a student glossary. For KS4, resource tasks and capability tasks which Longman has previously printed will be available on the site as they go out of print. New case studies and tasks will be added regularly and a showcase of pupils’ work.

Since its launch in October last year, 30,000 units of work have been downloaded from the primary site, which has a resources section from which up to 24 units of work covering KS1 and KS2 can be downloaded. Each unit represents a term’s work. Two other sections on the website support teachers in using the units and the showcase contains examples of pupil’s work completed in response to the units. Schools are encouraged to send examples of pupils’ work so the showcase becomes a reference library of children’s achievements.

The “learn here” section contains interactive tutorials and a glossary of design and technology terms.

Nuffield

sites:www.primarydandt.orgwww.longman.co.uksecondarydesign_tech

David Barlex is the director of the Nuffield Design and Technology Project

* Pupils at Woodgate Junior and Infant School in Birmingham called on the expertise of the West Midlands Fire Service to design an oven glove for children. The oven glove, designed for small hands, was created as part of the Technology Tree project run by the Engineering Employers Federation. During the project, nine and 10-year-olds looked at a range of safety gear and carried out their own safety and dexterity test on their designs. Details of the project can be found on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents website at www.rospa.co.uk in the safety education section.