Context

This signage project was a good way to engage Key Stage 3 pupils in a cross-curricular process. I am a DT teacher and this is the only project of this type which I have been involved with so for me it was a good opportunity to try something a little bit different. 

We liked the fact that the project was student focused and was designed to develop their skills.

We have a Media Club and we run poetry writing competitions. We also work closely with the library to encourage independent reading and writing. 

Aims & principles

• To involve students in a design process that incorporated other things such as creative writing
• To develop new skills and approaches to teaching technology

In Practice

Working with Birmingham’s former poet laureate ‘Spoz’ (Giovanni Esposito) a Year 8 DT group combined technology and with creative language to design and make an electronic interactive sign for the library.

The project took around 8 weeks to implement and during this time we visited the Bullring Shopping Centre and the Central Library to look at and assess different types of signage.  We did the same thing in school and considered the type of sign that we wanted to create. The group decided that they wanted to make an interactive sign for the library that combined functionality with their own creative writing. 

Spoz worked with the students for 3 x 2 hour sessions and during this time he encouraged the students to have fun with words and to play with language. Using word games and mind mapping techniques, the students wrote their own poems to accompany different departments of the library. The majority of the sessions took place in the library, I think this must be the first time a DT lesson has taken place in the school library!

Poems were recorded and incorporated into our library sign. During their DT lessons the group designed the sign, sourced materials and made the final product.   
I was the lead teacher for the project and was supported by our Head of Department, Librarian and one of our Assistant Head Teachers. The project was featured in the Head Teacher’s ‘Learning & Teaching’ bulletin that is distributed to all staff. 

Outcomes

• Students have gained an understanding that Technology involves a range of disciplines and skills
• Students have gained an understanding of how technology relates to the modern world and to make something for a purpose
• The DT department is going to get involved with more cross curricular work and we are now planning a Brunel project with the History department and we are looking if we could do more work that involves the community such as project with the Austin Plant which is near to our school
• The project has made the DT department open to new ideas and ways of working across departments

And of course we will have a sign in the library that has been designed and created by Year 8 students!

Legacy

• A permanent sign for the library that is both functional and creative
• Foundations which the school can build on to develop more projects with outside organisations and the wider community.

Resources

• Staff time: 2 hours of planning and 8 hours of delivering
• Material for the sign: £600

Final thought

There were some practical constraints, time and timetabling being the main ones. I juggled my time and negotiated with colleagues to ensure that the students were available for sessions. An area for development now is to run more cross curricular work with other departments.

If I ran this project again I would:

• Involve the City Learning Centre who could have provided good external technical support
• Liaise more closely with Spoz over the structure of the sessions

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