Co-op Academy Leeds — A KS4 Design & Technology book built around a Year 10–11 data-drop tracker, GCSE deadlines calendar and signed safety contract

Here's the case study for the KS4 version in the same format:

TITLE: Co-op Academy Leeds — A KS4 Design & Technology book built around a Year 10–11 data-drop tracker, GCSE deadlines calendar and signed safety contract
SCHOOL: Co-op Academy Leeds
TAG: Design & Technology / KS4
SUMMARY: A bespoke KS4 Design & Technology book for Co-op Academy Leeds, branded with the Co-op shield on a dark navy cover. The book opens with a Current / Target / Predicted grade tracker running from KS3 end through every data drop in Years 10 and 11, includes the academy's PRIDE presentation code and trust marking code, a signed Safety Contract, a year-long Deadlines and Key Dates calendar from September to July, repeating practical lesson logs and a half-termly "little wins" progress report.
BODY:
The brief

Following the KS3 D&T book, Co-op Academy Leeds came back to us for a KS4 companion that would carry GCSE students through the two-year course in a single workbook. The department wanted the same trust-wide DNA — PRIDE presentation code, marking code, signed safety contract and "little wins" progress report — but tuned for KS4: a current / target / predicted grade tracker at every Y10 and Y11 data drop, and a year-long deadlines calendar so coursework dates lived inside the book rather than on a sheet that gets lost. The cover needed to feel a step up from KS3, so we moved to a darker navy palette while keeping the Co-op shield front and centre.

What we designed

Working with Co-op Academy Leeds, we built a KS4 D&T book organised around six repeating components.

A KS4 grade tracker on the inside front, running KS3 end → Y10 DS1 → Y10 DS2 → Y10 DS3 → Y11 DS1 → Y11 DS2 → Y11 DS3, with three columns at every data drop — Current, Target and Predicted — 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.
The trust-wide marking code and sentence starters reference: Sp / P / CAP / G / ? / // marking symbols with the pupil response required for each, alongside sentence starters for describing, explaining, comparing, summarising, giving opinions and connecting ideas, plus a connectives bank — carried across from the KS3 book so the literacy expectations stay consistent.
The signed Safety Contract for Design & Technology: 22 numbered safety rules (loose clothing secured, long hair tied back, strong shoes, no machine without instruction, guards always used, hands behind cutting edges, PPE, emergency stops, accident reporting), signed by the student and countersigned by the teacher confirming they have been shown how to use each piece of equipment safely and have passed a health and safety check.
A year-long Deadlines and Key Dates calendar spread across multiple pages, running September through July, with four dated lines under every month so students can log every coursework milestone, mock, assessment and submission — plus a notes section at the end of each cycle.
Repeating practical lesson logs for projects across the two-year course, followed by a key word / definition log so students can build the technical vocabulary the GCSE specification demands.
A half-termly progress report on the inside back, headed "celebrating the 'little wins' in each and every lesson": date, Progress 1–4, EiL 1–4, and a Today's Little Win column for the teacher to "catch you at your best."

The finished book

Printed in dark navy with the Co-op shield on the cover, the KS4 D&T book carries the academy's GCSE flight path, the year's deadlines calendar, the signed safety contract, the trust's literacy expectations and a half-termly little wins tracker — so a student opens the same book in every D&T lesson from the start of Year 10 to the end of Year 11, with coursework dates, grades, safety and reflection all logged in one place.