New Curriculum Trainer Paul Woodward

Published 3rd August 2022

Paul has been teaching D&T for almost 30 years with most of those years as a Head of Creative Arts Faculties or as Head of D&T.

Following a degree in 3D design, Paul initially trained for the Post 16 sector so he has extensive experience of teaching A Level D&T but he has taught the subject from KS2 onwards in a wide variety of schools ranging from Pupil Referral Units to Prestigious International Boarding schools. Paul’s MA is in Education specialising in Professional Development in Teaching and Learning which led to him working as a consultant, course designer and presenter for D&TA alongside his industry and teaching roles!

Paul has particular expertise in 3D CAD and digital and visualisation. He has written and illustrated over 30 children’s picture books, illustrated online websites and created designs and logos for numerous clients. He has also worked in industry in roles that have included Heading a furniture design studio, designing luxury motorhomes and designing the User Interface and Icons for Caligari Corporation and Microsoft. Paul has a wide range of traditional making skills but also embraces the use of technology. He is as comfortable in a workshop environment as he is in a digital production studio.

He uses his range of 3D and digital skills to develop new teaching products and resources and we were proud to award him the D&T excellence award for Innovation and Creativity in 2021.

Paul also has 20 years’ experience as a GCSE moderator and examiner for the AQA.

He joins us from a role overseas at Rugby School Thailand which he joined to help develop the D&T department and teach Art and Design. More recently he was accredited as the Programme Leader for the Cambridge International Professional Development Qualification in Teaching and Learning as well as establishing the school as an International Professional Development Centre.

He has established departments which he ran single handed, but has managed much larger creative teams to help students achieve outstanding results.

Paul is also a prolific writer on the subject of D&T education and his Subject Genius Blog for the TES ran to over 100 features as well as sponsored articles for BMW, Airbus, NASA and LEGO.

As well as working with D&TA, Paul has also consulted for the BBC, V&A, PG Online, Dremel, Boardworks, Focus Education and more, and in 2019 he was commissioned by Routledge to write a chapter on designing for the teacher training book ‘Teaching Secondary Design and Technology’. He continues to design and present courses on a range of topics within Design and Technology and offer specialist training to schools and colleges. More recently, he has been a founding contributor for the recently launched International Schools Network.

Paul is truly passionate about Design and Technology and teaching it to the highest standard possible. By joining D&TA, he hopes to share this wealth of skills and experiences and to create innovative resources, training materials and courses to inspire the next generation of creative thinkers, designers and educators.

Paul also joins our latest Curriculum trainer Lol Conway. Lol is a D&T teacher and College Leader at Finham Park School in Coventry. Lol joins us next month in a part-time Curriculum Training role while continuing to teach part-time at Finham Park. She is looking forward to delivering training across the country while also assisting with course and resource creation.  

To find out more about our excellent training courses visit:

Training and Events - D&T Association (data.org.uk)