How many places are available on a Design Club programme?
How much does Design Club cost to join?
Design Club is a simple new idea that aims to create a time and a place where aspiring young designers can work with leading design practitioners and experienced design teachers.
It is a club for pupils in Years 9, 10 and 11 who love to design and make things.
The pupils come from the thirteen state and independent schools and the two 6th Form Colleges in the Hammersmith and Fulham area. Most will be studying Design and Technology or Art and Design as one of their GCSE subjects.
But that is not essential. The main thing is that they will be enthusiastic about designing and making.
In the current jargon, Design Club is a ‘supplementary school’, offering ‘oshl’ – out -of-school hours learning – in designing and making.
Design Club is an opportunity for pupils to extend their skills and understanding of designing and making in an informal setting with other like-minded teenagers.
They do this by working with real-life designers and highly experienced teachers in outstanding facilities for longer periods of time than are to be found in the regular school timetable. They will also generally be working on larger and more challenging projects than most schools can accommodate.
Design Club adds depth & breadth to pupils’ portfolio of work, and is of great benefit if they are planning to proceed with a design-based subject, both at A Level & beyond.
It is every bit as good, in fact in some respects better, than work experience in a design-related business because they really do get to know a practicing designer and their work.
But perhaps the main reason to come to Design Club is that it is great fun, designing, exploring, experimenting and making in an atmosphere of enthusiasm, questioning and challenge, and without the dead hand of assessment that blights so much formal D&T teaching in schools.
Design Club meets on Saturday afternoons from 2 to 5 during term time.
Each programme is made up of six sessions. Thus a programme covers 18 hours of designing and making (although there is a break for drinks and biscuits every afternoon, and a short tea party at the end of the last session).
The dates for the Summer Term sessions are:
Our Summer Term programmes start on Saturday 11th June, and run until 16th July.
Design Club is based in the Design & Technology Department of Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith.
This is an extremely well equipped department offering an unusually wide range of technologies.
It is conveniently located close to both Underground (Ravenscourt Park on the District, and Hammersmith on the Piccadilly), and bus links (27, 190, 267, 391, H91), and there is free parking at weekends in adjacent streets.
Each Design Club programme is devised and taught by a practicing designer, often a recent graduate of the Royal College of Art, together with an experienced Design and Technology teacher from one of the schools in the area.
We have found that this combination of a design practitioner and a school teacher offers the best way of instructing pupils in both the theory and practice of designing and making.
It is also a great way of finding out how to get onto a design-related course and discussing your ambitions for a creative future.
The funds for Design Club come from the Hammersmith & Fulham ISSP Fund, supplemented by the fees from club members.
Although Design Club is substantially funded by the Independent / State Schools Partnership Fund of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, we still need to make a charge to each member in order to make ends meet.
The day to day running of Design Club is handled by David Baker, a one-time architect who now teaches D&T at Latymer Upper School.
David is also the founder and co-ordinator of the Design Education Group and of Design Camp, a summer holiday designing and making activity. He can be emailed directly at david@designeducationgroup.org.uk.
He is assisted by Florie Salnot, an RCA alumni and product designer, who handles staffing and resourcing.
There is a maximum of 15 places available on each Design Club programme.
From our Design Camp experience, we have learnt that the optimum group size for a deep and meaningful learning experience is 15 pupils per programme.
The is no joining fee or membership fee for Design Club.
You just pay for how ever many programmes you take.
The full fee per programme is £90 (which works out at £5 per hour for the whole programme). This covers all tuition and materials, plus drinks and biscuits at break time, and the party and a Certificate of Attendance at the end of the programme.
There is a half fee of £45 for members whose families receive state benefits; applications will need to be accompanied by evidence of Income Support, Child Tax Credit or similar assistance.
There is a quarter fee of £22.50 for members who are in receipt of free school meals.; applications will need to be accompanied by a copy of the Free School Meal letter.
All fees must be paid in full at the start of the programme.
You are eligible if you are currently in Year 9, 10 or 11 at one of:-
Download the Application Form (bottom of this page) for our forthcoming programmes, fill it out and send it to us (our contact details).
You will need to decide which programme you would like to take, and then get the Form signed by your parents. You will need to send the Form in with the correct fee attached.
Your D&T teacher at school will also have copies of the Form.
Contact David Baker, either by email to david@designeducationgroup.org.uk or by phone on (+44) 078 1485 7323.
Application form for Programmes 5 & 6
