S3 Learners from St Luke’s working on their Eco Classroom building designs

St Luke’s High School is a state school for 600+ boys and girls aged from 12 to 18 in Barrhead, in the Greater Glasgow area of Scotland. The school focuses on its Catholic ethos in teaching and its close relationship with the surrounding community.

The school implemented the award-winning ‘Design, Engineer, Construct!’ programme in April 2017, making it one of Scotland’s most established DEC centres – they were supported for the first two years by Gardiner & Theobald through the Adopt a School programme.

St Luke’s approach to the programme is unique; DEC is delivered collaboratively though Mathematics and Technology lessons, thanks to a dynamic and innovative approach to learning and teaching.

DEC is delivered collaboratively though Mathematics and Technology lessons, thanks to a dynamic and innovative approach to learning and teaching.

We asked Kevin Ormond (Principal Teacher of STEM), Graham Baird (Principal Teacher of Mathematics), and Charlotte Miller (Teacher of Mathematics) to share their thoughts and experiences of the DEC programme at St Luke’s.

S3 Learner from St Luke’s working on their Eco Classroom building designs

“Our pupils can explore themes of social, environmental, and economic sustainability and learn how they can minimise their own community’s impact on the world.

They can see first-hand how Mathematics is applied in the world of work and learn skills that can be applied in other curricular areas.”

Graham Baird ~ Principal Teacher of Mathematics

“The learners are able and enjoy having the creative atmosphere that the DEC course provides. It has developed their independent learning skills and has brought a more mature approach to learning in a pedagogical style they are comfortable with.

Some of the learners are already interested in taking DEC level 2 or will be continuing with National 4/National 5 Applications of Maths next year.”

Charlotte Miller ~ Teacher of Mathematics

Extract from ‘DEC Maths Explained’ learning resource.

“Delivering DEC Level 1 through Mathematics and Technology has allowed us to share our experiences as a staff group and create an exciting course at St. Luke’s, where learners have an opportunity to thrive. Maths and Technology are a natural fit for the DEC course.

Having a joint IDL (Inter Disciplinary Learning) approach has been invaluable for our learners as they get exposure to staff expertise from both disciplines.”

Kevin Ormond ~ Principal Teacher of STEM

“Our S3 Maths learners attend the subject for five 50-minute periods per week (two double periods and one single period). 

We have organised the week as follows: two periods for continuation of 3rd/4th level numeracy and three periods for the DEC course. ”

Graham Baird ~ Principal Teacher of Mathematics

“This has been a seamless process as Kevin has been very helpful, sharing ideas and resources. The relationship between the departments already existed before I was teaching this course and so it has been very easy for me to teach.”

Charlotte Miller ~ Teacher of Mathematics

Extract from ‘DEC Maths Explained’ learning resource.

“All my team will eventually gain the opportunity to deliver the Level 1 DEC programme because of the way we rotate our BGE pathways. I believe this is a great CPD opportunity as we continue to learn from each other and build on our strong relationship with our Technologies faculty.

It also gives us opportunities to think and discuss how we can enhance our curriculum with opportunities to use Mathematics in real-life situations.

We are now exploring Level 2 DEC as a progression route into S5/56 for both pupils who have completed the Level 1 programme and for those who wish to continue studying Mathematics but don’t want to progress to Higher.

We would look to combine the Level 2 programme with the N5 Numeracy Unit (for those pupils who didn’t achieve this in S4).  This option would be an alternative to studying N5 Applications of Mathematics.”

Graham Baird ~ Principal Teacher of Mathematics