Craft & Technology and Aesthetics

The C&T & Aesthetics department is a closely bonded and knitted department where every teacher contributes willingly and selfless to motivate and engage to learn in class. We firmly believe every child can learn and we work hard at ensuring that not only the child learns but most importantly enjoys the learning process. Through the process, we hope to instil and nurture in students values like determination, perseverance, respect, time management and teamwork which will see them throughout their journey in life.

Vision of the Department

Students

To develop students to become empathetic and independent self-directed learners, creative and innovative problem solvers who are able to face and handle life challenges confidently. Students who can be nurtured to appreciate the aesthetics and culture in their environment and are willing to use the skills which they have learnt to serve and give back to the community.

Teachers

To develop a caring and nurturing department where teachers are bonded and are willing to share and help out one another so as to continue to inspire each other in their teaching.

Curriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment

Craft and Technology Department & Aesthetics (C&T&A) comprises of Four subjects area;

Design & Technology (D&T – Lower and Upper Sec)
Food & Nutrition (F&N - Upper Sec) / Food Consumer Education (FCE - Lower Sec)
Visual Art (Lower Sec)
Music (Lower Sec)

C&T & Aesthetics is a compulsory based subject for the lower secondary levels where students get to experience making an artefact using the design process in D&T; research on nutrition and learn the techniques of cooking in FCE, produce interesting art pieces and sculptures in ART and create and perform local Music as well as harness the use of IT in music composition in MUSIC. The main aim is to challenge students to think out of the box and be creative in their design in their ideas, food recipes, art pieces and music creation.

The main approach that teachers adopt in engaging student learning are Design Thinking and Inquiry based learning. Through Design Thinking, students are taught to empathise with the user and look at the problem from various perspective so as to tackle them. Through the usage of Authentic learning, students get to learn the concepts and make the connections so that the lesson becomes alive to them and hence they are more self-directed in their learning. A range of both Formative and Summative assessments are use to assess student learning and understanding so that progress is made.

For the Secondary 1 programme, the three subjects - Art, FCE and D&T are integrated as a whole. Pupils in the different subject groups though studying different content will work on a central theme of "Superfood" where they learn the various types of Superfood as well as the skills in Design Thinking to aid in their thinking process. They will then use their acquired knowledge to come up with interesting recipes pertaining to Superfood in their FCE lessons, design products to grow and display the Superfood in D&T and in Art, design infographics about Superfood to educate the school students.

For the Secondary 2 programme, the three subjects are taught independently. For D&T, the curriculum is designed around Community Service. Students will need to observe and research on problems within the community and are tasked to develop and make a product to address the root problem. For FCE, the curriculum focuses on problem based learning where by students are given cases on certain health condition to work on suitable healthy meal. For Art, students will be exposed to the principles of Art, different methods and ways to express their art through canvas art and silk painting. At the end of each term, an exhibition will be set up to showcase students' good works.

In Music, the Secondary 1 students will be introduced to local music in addition to learning the Ukulele where they will pick up the skill of playing the Hawaiian adaptation of the small guitar. They will also be taught how to appreciate Global Music as well as popular Singaporean folksongs which they will learn and then present their rendition during the Sec 1 cohort recess. For Secondary 2, the students will use their creative ideas to compose their own music through the use of Garageband. They will also be introduced to the instruments of the Western Orchestra where they will learn about the composers of the different periods in western classical music.

For the Upper Secondary Programme, only F&N and D&T are offered as electives to students and the subjects are taught independently to prepare the pupils for the GCE 'N' and 'O' Level Examinations. The subjects are coursework based whereby pupils are to research and design an artefact for D&T and design nutrition meals for F&N. In the aim to enhance student's learning, field trips and enrichment classes are also organized to expose students to the different learning environments.

A distinct look and feel of the C&T department is the murals, paintings and posters on the walls of the building. It started in 2007 where groups of students including the graduated students volunteered to paint murals on the walls of the D&T block. The murals painted took on different themes such as colours, technology, architecture design, product design and font design. The murals painted gave the D&T block a brand new look and provide inspiration to many pupils. The project is still on-going and is expanding to different parts of the D&T block.

In Dunman Secondary, we also created the Design Nexus, a space to inspire creation in 2003. The Nexus, also commonly known as, is used as a studio and an exhibition area to showcase pupils' good works. This space will take on different look every year. A group of pupils of different ages who are interested in design volunteered their time to design and construct this space yearly. They are also trained to be facilitators to facilitate exhibition that is held yearly that is opened for all schools.

Programmes and Activities

Sec 1 Super Food

Student will get to display their work at the piano area on the artefacts which they have made to grow and display the Superfood. They will also show the different recipes pertaining on the usage of Superfood as well as come up with infographics so that other students can learn from it.

Sec 2 Art Exhibition

A termly art exhibition is held throughout the year to encourage the appreciation of art and instil a sense of pride in the students. Both teachers and students are encouraged to participate in the exhibition.

Lower Sec Music Recess Concerts

Students will put up performances during the recess where they will put to practice what they have learn in class. This will encourage students to practice what they have learnt and also take pride in their performances.

Sec 3 D&T & F&N

Students will be taught how to problem solve through their coursework, tackling problems and solving them through the design process. Students who have done well in their Sec 3NA D&T or F&N will be offered the opportunity to take O Level D&T or F&N in their Sec 4.