Textile Design

At St Benedict’s we provide opportunities for learners to develop their design and technology proficiency; we are committed to developing a broad range of employable life skills including problem solving, tolerance and dependence. Students will combine design and making skills with knowledge and understanding of suitability relevant to desired intentions. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make personalised outcomes inspired by a brief, considering their own and other’s needs and wants.

Please note Textiles KS3 is on rotation with other DT subjects.

Core knowledge:

·         improving hand-eye coordination

·         understanding key design rules such as typography and colour theory

·         draw upon disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.

·         Risk taking: becoming resourceful and innovative

·         Allowing learners to become enterprising and capable for the wider world

In Year 7 we use an array of hand stitching to create a bright, colourful outcome using felt.

In Year 8 we will build upon what was taught at Year 7 but incorporate greater hand stitching skills and introduce machine stitching. We will also explore a wider range of media such as fabric dyeing and embellishment skills. We also incorporate a ‘big picture’ mindset for Year 8 and work will be inspired by social issues; this allows students’ work to be more personal and more meaningful.

Like all DT subjects, there is the expectation of Designing, Making and Evaluating and both KS3 projects are structured in this way. These skills are then transferable across all other DT subjects.

Home learning at KS3

For each Textiles rotation there is the expectation of learners completing 3 key pieces of home learning. These activities enhance our classroom understanding and push independent investigation, having a direct influence on the outcome.

What can parents/carers do to support at home?

Talk to your child about our project, what are their interests? How could we incorporate that in their design to enhance engagement and interest? Textiles is a thriving industry and as such students are wanting to try lots of different techniques; encourage experimentation and use the internet to find age-appropriate tutorials or even instruction books to push a ‘can do’ attitude.

Year 9

This is a wonderful opportunity for students to experiment and build confidence with manipulating a range of media and materials not used at KS3. This year enables students to learn through doing – what do they prefer? What materials could be the best response to an artist they are referencing? Technical help and understanding will enable students to be so much more self-managed and aesthetically aware of options ready for KS4. There is a significant health and safety focus as this would be the first-time learners are experimenting with certain materials, but the benefit is mature, independent experimentation in KS4. If students choose Textile Design as a GCSE, then the outcome used would be an element of coursework evidence for Component 1 at KS4.

Home learning in Year 9

The expectation is that students spend half an hour a week on teacher-set home learning. This could be inspired by teacher marking or be a research or written activity to ensure skills for KS4. Local exhibitions are shared with students periodically and attendance would be celebrated and certainly encouraged.

What can parents/carers do to support at home?

Encourage your learner to attend art galleries, see exhibitions and get a ‘real-world’ taste of both Art and Textiles. At KS4 there is an expectation of drawing from real-life so setting up a still life or drawing from life around you will greatly help your learner at KS4.

Textile design is the creation of designs/products for woven, knitted, stitched, printed or decorative textiles that might have a functional or non-functional purpose. Students are expected to develop and suitably apply the knowledge, understanding and skills learnt to realize personal intentions relevant to their own designed textile design outcome. We use a wide range of materials and processes to allow students to have the skills but understanding that even suitable materials can push a narrative of a piece. This qualification consists of 2 sustained projects (components). Component 1 is a large, self-led project and is with 60% of the final grade. Component 2 is the remaining 40% and is inspired by an exam paper set by AQA; the outcome to this will be constructed in a 10-hour exam.

Home learning at KS4

Home learning at KS4 is much more an opportunity to build upon class work and learning. The subject calls for a lot of aesthetic presentation which can take time. Home learning will also be individualised to ensure all have time to meet personalised targets from the teacher. The expectation is that students spend an average of one hour per week on home learning.

What can parents/carers do to support at home?

Encourage your learner to attend art galleries, see exhibitions and get a ‘real-world’ taste of both Art and Textiles. The qualification asks for strong evidence of drawing, by drawing from still life or a photo could allow your learner to push their general recording skills but also help generate new ideas. There are an incredible number of artists and designers who work with a range of materials to create a textiles outcome, encouraging students to look at work will help boost their visual language and larger ‘big picture’ thinking. There is too an expectation of annotation with this qualification, students could start a sketch-book journal where they document stimuli in their everyday life, encourage annotation to help us understand their intention or what they find inspiring about the references. AQA advise that stimuli: ‘relate to cultural, social, historical, contemporary, environmental and creative contexts’ so encourage getting out and about, watch the news, following world events and questioning personal interests can all influence and help work to become more personal.

Specification at a glance: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/art-and-design/gcse/art-and-design-8201-8206/specification-at-a-glance

More on the Textile Design qualification: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/art-and-design/gcse/art-and-design-8201-8206/subject-content/textile-design

Textiles basics: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zgnq6rd