With Design and Design Technology being key educational programmes delivered in national and international curriculums around the world, GESS takes pride in our offering this subject, which aims to instil creativity and a passion in students for Design, Engineering, Architecture and Marketing, with a strong link to business. We speak with Stephen Edkins to find out more about what his team bring to our students.
Tell us about your team and the programme you conduct in GESS.
Our department has been here for 12 years. We have since grown into a four-person team, including an experienced full-time technician who is also a specialist teacher. We have a very well-designed department, I even dare say, one of the best in Singapore where this subject is concerned.
We are all about being STEM and STEAM-related, offering a range of projects and experiences for our children, from computer design, manufacturing, engineering, architecture to coding, electronics, 3D printing – with every discipline involving design. From grade 6, all the way through grade 11 and 12 in the Diploma programme (which is into its eighth year), our students get hands-on with projects that hone their practical skillsets and creativity.
How do you see your team helping students acquire the skills that will future-proof them for their chapter after GESS?
This year, we’ve got 16 students in the Diploma programme. These areas are very industry-relevant, preparing our students for their next life chapter after GESS, so we believe the subject is a great foundation for them.
Every unit we do here is applied to real life context and backed by a solid curriculum. Our students acquire valuable problem solving skills and teamwork through collaborative projects, that will serve them well into their adulthood and help them stay competitive in their future jobs.
What keeps your team going, working with and for the students at GESS?
We pride ourselves on making our curriculum purposeful for our students – and we have generally great students in GESS. In grade 6 and 7, the focus is on making the programme fun, giving the kids a good understanding of the basics. By the time they come to grade 9 and higher, they bring that foundation to yet another level and start building and creating things. This is the same phase when we inculcate the element of business of design – helping students understand how design has to gel with business needs.
We are fortunate that in Singapore, we get access to all the materials and resources – sourced locally or imported – which make it possible to implement our desired programme. The large equipment made available to us, they get worn out or outdated every few years, and the school invests in replacing these, ensuring we have the best for our students. We know this is not a granted in every school or country that offers this subject.
Another aspect we are very committed to is safety. All of us in the department is safety-qualified, and take great care in ensuring supervised access to facilities. We periodically go for safety training – conducted by the Design and Technology Association to stay updated on global standards. This is part of ensuring our students get to utilise the best equipment in the safest environment.
We see our students’ works on display in the Design Technology workshop. Any plans to showcase them to the whole GESS community?
We have not quite gotten into the swing of arranging showcases and competitions. But we believe our students’ work speaks for themselves when they bring them home. Parents love it when their kids come home with a piece of jewellery or a creative electronic signage that they cast out of metal. To us, this is the best showcasing possible!
