At Sydenham School, our Food Preparation and Nutrition curriculum equips students with essential life skills, fostering confidence in cooking while promoting healthy, informed food choices in line with the government’s Eatwell Guidelines. Rooted in the KS3 National Curriculum, we provide a strong foundation in nutrition, food science, and the broader impact of food on society and the environment. Students will understand the principles of a balanced diet and how food choices affect physical and mental well-being, with a focus on healthy, sustainable practices. Lessons develop essential culinary techniques, building confidence in preparing a variety of dishes that meet diverse nutritional needs.

Students also explore the science behind cooking, learning about ingredient properties, food safety, and the effects of different processes. We emphasize the role of food in different cultures and address ethical issues such as sustainability, seasonality, and food waste. The KS3 curriculum prepares students for GCSE, building knowledge and practical skills aligned with the Eduqas GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition specification.

Throughout, we foster ambition and determination, encouraging students to approach food preparation with confidence and problem-solving skills. By the end of KS3, students will be able to confidently prepare nutritious meals, make informed food choices, and understand the wider implications of their food habits, preparing them for further study or real-world application. 

Product Design at Sydenham School aim is to develop skills of resilience and higher-order thinking. By combining practical projects with theoretical understanding, students can develop both hands-on skills and critical thinking abilities. This method not only fosters resilience but also helps students appreciate the broader societal impacts of the designed world in which we live. 

The focus is on user-centred design encourages empathy and investigation into not only the client, but also the context and environment the products will be used in.  The process of designing and making is a rigorous process of iterative design in which there is a constant flow of investigation, experimentation, evaluation and reiteration of progressively more complex ideas which arrive at the final proposal.   

By teaching deliberate practice our students develop the skills to confidently use tools, machinery, CAD/CAM and a wide range of resistant materials, with competence and safety.   With each year group our projects increase in complexity, our students find the projects challenging and rewarding and are proud to take them home. 

By the time students reach A-Level Product Design, they are well-skilled and can create more adventurous, exciting designs because of their enhanced graphical communication, workshop knowledge and skills.  

Projects are created in such a way that every student who attends regular classes, will walk away with a finished product at the end of the term.  There is extension work for those who have a faster pace, and all lessons are differentiated, so that learners from all backgrounds can progress at the appropriate pace for their abilities and skills.    

Practical and theory lessons are sequenced in such a way as to create a strong foundation of knowledge and skills at year 7, giving momentum for incremental development as projects and expectations increase, year on year.  When students enter their GCSE year, they will have a solid base of skills and knowledge to delve deeper and begin to work more independently, leading to challenging and innovative design proposals and final products at GCSE and A-Level.  

Extra-curricular activities in Year 9 offer Product Design enthusiasts the opportunity to join Design Ventura, a design club where students take part in an award-winning design and enterprise competition run by the Design Museum. 

It is our ambition that students take Product Design up to the end of A-Level and leave us to go on to successful careers in the multi-million-pound creative industries in the UK and abroad.  That said, we believe that the soft skills taught in Product Design are transferable and will help any student to enjoy and progress in their next phase of life.   

All students at Sydenham school study Textiles in year 7, 8 and 9 with the option to continue onto the GCSE course through year 10-11. It is our intention they finish each Key stage with an increasingly secure knowledge of what it means to be a responsible consumer and designer. The fashion and textile industry contributes billions to the global market each year but notoriously drains the worlds resources and damages it’s environment. Knowing what products are made from, how they are made, where they come from and who made them contributes to students understanding of the impact their choices and decisions have on the wider world.  

It is our intent that every student enters their textiles lessons confident and curious. Through the meticulous planning of practical projects and the use of engaging, flexible teaching strategies, we respond to the needs of all ability ranges, SEND needs, minority groups, genders and cultural backgrounds. We provide a safe environment where students are encouraged and supported to problem solve and discover their interests and talents. We provide clear direct instruction through focused practical tasks covering a wide range of techniques, processes, equipment and machinery with increasing complexity. Systematic and immediate assessment and feedback guides learners to use specialist tools and components with confidence and accuracy to manufacture high quality functional products which reflect the wants and needs of our modern and diverse society.   

Embedded in every project is the opportunity to unpick the work of other designers including historical design movements, modern fashion, textiles, interior and costume designers. This is an age-old design strategy, supported by our National curriculum and exam board, that has proven to be greatly effective in igniting students creativity and innovation, increasing their awareness of opportunities in design and manufacture and helping them realise their own creative 2D and 3D fashion and textile outcomes.  

Students have been delighted and in awe by the scale and grandeur of designs displayed in the V&A on visits to the museum.  Equally effective at drawing out possibilities from our young designer’s minds are our studies of biomimicry, geometry, cultures and sub cultures. Students have access to Computer aided design and manufacturing tools. These build on their previously leant skills in design communication, honing their ability to communicate effectively and with speed and accuracy, for example developing complex surface decoration, repeat patterns and colour ways or developing technical drawings for manufacturing specifications.  

In Design & Technology Textiles we value hard work, perseverance and resilience. We strive to embed these good habits and key skills in our students to prepare them for their next stage of life and education. We quickly identify strengths and encourage independence as well as peer tutoring when appropriate.  Students rigorously critique, evaluate and test their ideas to ensure they meet the high demands of their own values and their client needs and wants. 

It is our ambition for the young people who study with us to leave our department as responsible and innovative designers who curiously seek out opportunities to improve the world and their futures.