Our mission is to offer every student in the College the opportunity to solve problems creatively and equip them with the technical knowledge and entrepreneurial skills in preparation for our rapidly changing technological world. The curriculum will be purposeful and enjoyable enabling each student to be a risk taker and blue-sky thinker. ICT will be used as a tool in developing and programming systems and using CAD software to control CNC machines at the cutting edge of manufacturing engineering. Thinking independently will enable each student to be responsible for the direction of their learning whilst being facilitated by their teacher through the delivery of extended projects. Solving problems may be achieved individually or as a team and they will choose which area of the Imagineering Faculty will be appropriate to use on a weekly basis. The
Faculty will be truly cross-curricular and will use aspects of many subjects to aid the students when developing innovative ideas. The only boundary to making an impact in the future is our ‘imagination’ and our ability to
‘engineer’ the solutions that could affect peoples’ lives.
Our objectives are to:
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Offer an all-through experience from Pre-Prep to Sixth Form, enabling each student to be more aware of the technological world in which we live and to see year-on- year progress throughout the school.
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Develop strong links with industry both locally and nationally as well as strengthening our partnership with Liverpool University. (sponsorship/courses etc)
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Create products or systems which solve real-life problems in a truly inspirational manner.
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Develop a wide variety of creative and technical skills in computing, manufacturing, designing, problem-solving and entrepreneurship.
The Faculty is housed in a purpose built building and situated on the main campus in the Upper School. As a result of Independent Academy status and significant investment from additional donors the Faculty is undergoing a major refurbishment which is due to be completed by the end of August 2014. When completed it will offer:
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A multi media exhibition atrium
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Two multi-material workshops
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A 50 seat lecture theatre
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CAD/CAM room
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Electronics/3D printing room
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CAD/Design studio
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Materials storage and prep room
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Two additional computing rooms

The multi-media exhibition atrium
This will be a vibrant entrance to the Faculty and will offer extensive exhibition areas which will be lit by a combination of angled coloured fluorescent tubes and additional spot lighting to set the scene for learning in the Faculty. There will be 6 plasma screens at varying levels, some of which will display students work on a rotating basis and some will run clips and programmes throughout the day as well as highlighting upcoming events and competitions.
Two multi material workshops
Each of these workshops has a full complement of machines that enable the students to realise their designs throughout the key stages. These include lathes, milling machine, heat treatment, wasting processes as well as our newest machinery which enables our students to recycle milk bottles to use the material for laser cutting, shaping or vacuum forming.
A 50 seat lecture theatre
This will be a raked lecture theatre with a multi media teaching wall. All students will be able to take notes using the chair mounted swing tops. The space will be used for lead lessons with two timetabled groups where the launch/delivery of a new project or concept is being taught. The space will also be available for visiting speakers providing a seminar for the Imagineering Faculty or other Faculties from across the College.
CAD/CAM room
This is already equipped with a large laser cutter and a Boxford Router, but this equipment will be augmented with a large flatbed router and additional micro router. The CAD suite has a full complement of thin client machines which run a wide variety of DT/Computing software including 2D Design and Solidworks 2014.
CAD/Design Studio
This will linked to the CAD/CAM room via glazed wall panels and glazed doors. It will be used exclusively for DT and Computing and it will have the flexibility to be used as one large room or two smaller rooms. There is a full complement of thin client computers with a short throw data projector.
Electronics/3D printing room
This room will house sufficient electronic workbenches for a full class of 25 to design, manufacture and test circuits. There will be three 3D printers of varying qualities and capabilities that will be used by all students in the Faculty throughout the year groups. In addition, there will be a Faculty resource library with seating pods to read the various books, magazines and journals.
Materials storage and prep room
This room contains all the appropriate machinery for material preparation for all year groups. In addition, there is an extensive range of woods, metals and plastics of most sizes, shapes and profiles to enable the students to be as creative as possible.
Two additional computing rooms
Each of these rooms are used by other faculties in the College when they are not occupied by teachers of the
Imagineering Faculty. There is a full complement of thin client computers with all the necessary software when teaching Computing or when delivering the content of any other subject.

Curricular:
At KS3 we teach an integrated curriculum, initially equipping our students with the necessary knowledge and skills in Design Technology and Computing followed by teaching through projects of an entrepreneurial nature using the skills that they have acquired. Some of these are short resource based projects which are completed on an individual basis, others are group based and some are team projects which encourage them to design, produce, package, market and sell the products that they have produced at the two annual College Fairs.
In year 9 our students embark on the Foundation Project Qualification (FPQ) Level 1. Each student has to identify a problem, provide a solution through the design process and through systems and control/computing and produce an artefact that can be tested by and exhibited to a potential market audience.
We have a very healthy number of students studying GCSE Designing Technology Resistant Materials, GCSE
Systems and Control and A Level Design Technology: Product Design. A number of our students use these qualifications in combination with their other subjects to continue their education in related fields such as
Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Art Foundation,
Building and Construction or advanced apprenticeships in companies such as Rolls Royce.
We pride ourselves in achieving excellent results at GCSE, A Level and in our value added results. We strive to instil in our students a ‘can do’ attitude as well as a passion for quality through technical and academic excellence.
Extra-Curricular:
During each week we run a number of activities for all students in the activities periods, lunchtime and afterschool. These include F1 in Schools, KS3 Design and Make it, Solidworks workshops, stage set design and manufacture, Scratch and examined set workshops. We intend to be competing in a number or competitions next year as well as sending some of our students on courses run by Liverpool University and HeadStart. As well as local trips to companies such as Jaguar Land Rover we organise residential trips to London and Paris on a regular basis, with Milan or New York proposed in the near future.
Over the last four years we have had three Arkwright Scholars. This is a national scholarship awarded to approximately 300 of the most promising engineers who intend to continue their studies in engineering at university.