Co-op Academy Leeds — A Design & Technology book built around a KS2-to-KS3-end progress tracker, signed safety contract and 1–8 progress ladder

The brief

Co-op Academy Leeds came to us for a Design & Technology book that would carry students from Key Stage 2 entry through every data drop in Years 7 and 8 to the end of Key Stage 3 — with progress, safety, practical work and reflection all captured in one place. The department wanted four things working together: a visible flight path with the student's target grade and current grade at each checkpoint, a signed safety contract that lived inside the book rather than in a folder, a published 1–8 progress ladder so students always knew what the next grade looked like, and a repeating practical log so every workshop lesson ended with a self-evaluation. The book also needed to carry the academy's PRIDE presentation code and the trust's literacy expectations.

What we designed

Working with Co-op Academy Leeds, we built a D&T book organised around six repeating components.

A flight path tracker on the inside front, running KS2 → Y7-DS1 → Y7-DS2 → Y7-DS3 → Y8-DS1 → Y8-DS2 → KS3 END, with space for target grade and current grade at every data drop — paired with the academy's PRIDE presentation code: Pen (black or blue), Ruler (date and title underlined), I must put a line through mistakes, Draw diagrams in pencil, Ensure no graffiti.
A trust-wide marking code and sentence starters reference: Sp / P / CAP / G / ? / // marking symbols with the pupil response required for each (correct spelling written three times, sentence rewritten with grammar corrected, work redrafted with better paragraphing), alongside sentence starters for describing, explaining, comparing, summarising, giving opinions and connecting ideas, plus a connectives bank.
A signed Safety Contract for Design & Technology: 22 numbered safety rules (loose clothing secured, long hair tied back, strong shoes, no running, no bags in the practical area, no machine without instruction, guards always used, hands behind cutting edges, PPE, emergency stops, accident reporting…) signed by the student with name, class and date, and countersigned by the teacher to confirm the student has been shown how to use each piece of equipment safely and has passed a health and safety check.
A published 1–8 D&T progress ladder structured around four columns — Identify (research and analysis), Design (ideas and modelling), Optimise (making), Validate (testing and evaluation) — with the descriptor for every grade from 1 (recognise the characteristics of familiar products) through to 8 (comprehensive product analysis, justified testing against the design specification, evaluating commercial viability), so students can see exactly what to do next to move up a grade.
A repeating practical lesson log for every project: date, task, "what went well," "even better if," and equipment / materials used — captured at the end of every workshop lesson — followed by a key word / definition log for the technical vocabulary students pick up across each project.
A half-termly progress report on the inside back, headed "celebrating the 'little wins' in each and every lesson": date, Progress 1–4, EiL (Effort in Learning) 1–4, and a Today's Little Win column for the teacher to "catch you at your best."

The finished book

Printed in Co-op blue with the Co-op shield on the cover, the book carries the academy's flight path, the trust's literacy expectations, a signed safety contract, the full 1–8 D&T progress ladder, a repeating practical log and a half-termly little wins tracker — so the student opens the same book in every D&T lesson from Year 7 to the end of KS3, and progress, safety and reflection are all logged in the same place.