Bench Joinery (National 5)

Unit title: Construction Crafts: Bench Joinery (National 5)

Unit code: J152 75

Superclass: TG

Publication date: August 2013

Source: Scottish Qualifications Authority

Version: 4.0

Unit purpose

This unit is a mandatory unit within the National 5 Construction Crafts Course and has been designed to be taken as part of that course.

The unit is suitable for learners with no previous bench joinery experience and may also provide progression for learners who have successfully completed the National 4 Construction Crafts Course or units.

The unit is based on practical workshop activities. It requires the learner to fabricate a dressed timber frame. The timber frame will employ a variety of different constructional joints and learners will spend some time in mastering the techniques involved in cutting and shaping timber to form such joints. The complexity of jointing techniques employed in this unit will allow learners who have prior experience of bench joinery at National 4 level to extend their skills.

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Unit title: Construction Crafts: Bench Joinery (National 5)

Learners will be required to correctly select and properly maintain tools for joinery activities. They will also develop safe working practices and general skills that will enhance employability in any vocational area.

Learners who achieve this unit should feel confident in widening their experience in joinery by taking other National 5 units in this trade area.

Outcomes

On successful completion of the unit the learner will be able to:

1 Select, use and manage hand tools, equipment and materials. 2 Fabricate a variety of timber joints. 3 Manufacture a dressed timber frame.

Credit points and level

1 National unit credit at SCQF level 5: (6 SCQF credit points at SCQF level 5)

Recommended entry to the unit

While entry is at the discretion of the centre, learners would normally be expected to have attained one of the following, or equivalent:

 Construction Crafts: Site Carpentry and Bench Joinery (National 4)  Construction Crafts: Carpentry and Joinery Techniques (National 4)

Core Skills

Achievement of this Unit gives automatic certification of the following Core Skills component:

Core Skill component Critical Thinking at SCQF level 4

There are also opportunities to develop aspects of Core Skills which are highlighted in the Support Notes of this Unit specification.

Context for delivery

If this unit is delivered as part of a course, it is recommended that it should be taught and assessed within the subject area of the course to which it contributes.

The Assessment Support Pack (ASP) for this unit provides assessment and marking guidelines that exemplify the national standard for achievement. Centres wishing to develop their own assessments should refer to the ASP to ensure a comparable standard. A list of existing ASPs is available to download from SQA’s website (http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/46233.2769.html).

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Equality and inclusion

This unit specification has been designed to ensure that there are no unnecessary barriers to learning or assessment. The individual needs of learners should be taken into account when planning learning experiences, selecting assessment methods or considering alternative evidence.

Further advice can be found on our website www.sqa.org.uk/assessmentarrangements.

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National unit specification: Statement of standards

Unit title: Construction Crafts: Bench Joinery (National 5)

Acceptable performance in this unit will be the satisfactory achievement of the standards set out in this part of the unit specification. All sections of the statement of standards are mandatory and cannot be altered without reference to SQA.

Outcome 1

Select, use and manage hand tools, equipment and materials.

Performance criteria

(a) Selection of tools, equipment and materials is appropriate for the work to be carried out. (b) Tools, equipment and materials are handled and transported correctly. (c) Tools, equipment and materials are positioned correctly in the work area in accordance with good practice. (d) Tools, equipment and materials are stored correctly after use. (e) Health and safety requirements are complied with during all activities.

Outcome 2

Fabricate a variety of timber joints.

Performance criteria

(a) Machine dressed materials are marked out to given sizes and within a prescribed tolerance. (b) Materials are converted to given sizes using a range of hand tools to within prescribed tolerances. (c) A variety of jointing exercises is carried out using hand tools to prescribed tolerances. (d) A quality check is carried out on the finished work against the prescribed standards and tolerances.

Outcome 3

Manufacture a dressed timber frame.

Performance criteria

(a) A workshop rod is produced for a given frame design and within prescribed tolerances. (b) Frame components are marked out accurately prior to tool application, and within prescribed tolerances. (c) Frame is assembled and fixed to a given specification, prescribed standards and tolerances.

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(d) A quality check is carried out on the finished work against the prescribed standards and tolerances. (e) Health and safety requirements are complied with during all activities.

Evidence requirements for this unit

Evidence is required to demonstrate that learners have achieved all outcomes and performance criteria.

Performance evidence will be supported by an assessor checklist. This evidence will be generated from an integrated assignment consisting of practical activities carried out in supervised workshop conditions. The evidence may be gathered at different points throughout the unit. The practical activities will cover:

 selecting the correct tools, equipment and materials for particular tasks  transporting tools, equipment and materials and positioning them correctly between tasks  using the tools and equipment in a correct and safe manner and using them solely for the purpose for which they are designed  storing tools and equipment correctly after use  returning surplus materials to store correctly  production of a suitable workshop rod and within given tolerances  measuring out accurately and setting out the lengths of timber required in the fabrication of the frame  marking, cutting, shaping and jointing of timbers correctly and within given tolerances  constructing to prescribed tolerances, a jointed timber frame incorporating a minimum of two of the following joint types: a bridle joint, a through mortice and tenon joint, a corner halving, a through haunched mortice and tenon joint and a stub tenon joint  learners carrying out a quality check on their own work before submitting for final assessment  learners maintaining a clean and tidy workplace and adhering to health and safety requirements throughout all activities

The ASP item for this unit provides an assessor checklist and details of the practical assignment which exemplify the national standard. Centres wishing to develop their own assessments should refer to the ASP to ensure a comparable standard.

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Development of skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work It is expected that learners will develop broad, generic skills through this unit. Employability is a key aspect of Skills for Work and is present throughout the unit. In addition, there are a number of other skills that learners will be expected to improve on and develop as they undertake this unit, these can be drawn from the main skills areas listed below. These must be built into the unit where there are appropriate opportunities.

1 Literacy 1.1 Reading 1.2 Writing

2 Numeracy 2.1 Number processes

4 Employability, enterprise and citizenship 4.1 Employability

5 Thinking Skills 5.1 Remembering 5.2 Understanding 5.3 Applying

Amplification of these is given in SQA’s Skills Framework: Skills for Learning, Skills for Life and Skills for Work. The level of these skills should be at the same SCQF level as the unit and be consistent with the SCQF level descriptor. Further information on building in skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work is given in the national unit support notes.

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National unit support notes

Unit title: Construction Crafts: Bench Joinery (National 5)

Unit support notes are offered as guidance and are not mandatory.

While the exact time allocated to this unit is at the discretion of the centre, the notional design length is 40 hours.

Guidance on the content and context for this unit

The content in this unit covers practical joinery activities at an introductory level. The learner will learn how to make a variety of standard joints in dressed timber. To this end they must develop the ability to select and use a variety of tools and equipment correctly and safely. It is therefore important that the learning takes place in a supervised workshop/site environment.

During the process of practical work the learner will become accustomed to the use of joinery terms and will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of these terms in everyday practice.

A number of joints will be used in the manufacture of the frame for Outcome 3. These may include a bridle joint, a through mortice and tenon joint, a corner halving, a through haunched mortice, a tenon joint and a stub tenon joint. A minimum of two joints will be used for assessment purposes, but learners will learn how to fabricate a wider range of joints during this unit.

Learners should be taught good joinery working practices for each stage of the overall process. They should learn how to carry out a quality check on their own work at intermediate stages as well as at the completion of the end product. The exercises on timber joints (Outcome 2) should be viewed as an integral part of the ultimate end product — the dressed timber frame. In this way the interim checks will go a long way to ensuring a satisfactory overall exercise.

It is envisaged that a number of learners may have little or no experience of working with the range of tools and materials associated with this unit. Some learners may have experience of carpentry and joinery work at National 4, but a number may be starting their joinery experience with this National 5 unit. For the latter group of learners it is important to ensure that they appreciate the reasons for carrying out the various tasks in the manner directed by teachers/lecturers. They will learn the reasons for using specific tools for specific materials. They will also learn the value of good health and safety practice in joinery work and the importance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Learners should become aware of the importance of being considerate to others and of working in a safe and methodical manner. The maintenance of a clean and tidy work area includes the positioning of tools and materials before, during and after use.

Learners should learn about waste minimisation and sustainability. In a practical way they can contribute to this by careful use of materials and by promptly returning surplus materials to the store.

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Outcome 1 requires the learner to select tools, and to handle, transport, position, and store both tools and materials. Materials used will, almost exclusively, be pre-dressed softwoods. Tools and equipment likely to be used will include: setting out tools, clamps, square and pencil, marking gauge, mortice gauge, claw hammers, saws, chisels, the hand plane and hand drills.

Outcome 2 entails skills in marking, sawing, planning, chiselling and, depending on the technique adaopted, the boring of timbers. These tasks require the use of several different hand tools. Learners will practise these individual skills separately before bringing them all together in the fabrication of the frame in the overall practical task for the unit. Learners must be made aware of the tolerances that will be acceptable for each aspect of the task and allowed to practise particular skills until they have become competent in them to the standards required.

Outcome 3 should enable the learner to bring together the skills learned in the first two outcomes as they carry out a bench work exercise involving the construction of a dressed softwood frame. The joints in the frame should be made to the required standard and the complete assembly should be solid and well-constructed. The assessment task calls for a variety of joinery skills due to the fact that the frame requires different jointing techniques to be used on the same end product.

Where the unit is taken alongside the Construction Crafts: Employability Skills National 5 unit, learners should be encouraged to develop the general skills and attitudes that are valued by construction industry employers and indeed employers in other industries. These general skills and attitudes should be taught as an integral part of the unit. Opportunities will arise in various practical contexts to discuss the value of, for example: time-keeping; working co-operatively and in small teams; taking advice; following prescribed health and safety systems; maintaining a clean, tidy and organised workplace. Learners will also learn how to carefully pre-plan their work tasks, sub- dividing these up into discrete sub-tasks as and when required.

Relevant aspects of current health and safety legislation, current COSHH Regulations and any systems of work relevant to the learners’ workshop/workplace should be explained and adhered to as part of the work of this unit. Learners should be helped to appreciate the requirement to be clean, presentable and appropriately dressed for the workshop. The need to wear PPE including protective clothing when required should be emphasised.

If learners are taking this unit as part of the National 5 Construction Crafts Course they may be required to carry out basic risk assessments for joinery activities or workspaces.

Guidance on approaches to delivery of this unit

Experiential learning is the main approach recommended for this unit. This involves learning through practical experiences and activities. Learners should experience actual or simulated workplace conditions and should be encouraged to perform tasks and conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to the workplace.

Experiential learning also involves reflecting on experiences/activities, identifying strengths and areas for improvement. It is important to encourage learners throughout the unit to evaluate their own work and progress. They should be encouraged to seek advice and set themselves goals to build confidence and competence in undertaking tasks.

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Learners undertaking this unit at National 5 with little or no prior experience of bench joinery may benefit from carefully planned tutorial exercises based on the correct use of basic hand tools. Once they have gained confidence and some proficiency in the basics they may move with confidence to the jointing exercises required by this unit. Recognised working practices should be fully explained, demonstrated and practised. This includes correct manual handling techniques and posture when using tools.

Teaching learners how to compare their own work with given standards will help them to evaluate their joinery skills. Checking standards of work against prescribed tolerances is a very useful skill and habit that learners can develop during their work. For example, learning how to use a retractable steel tape to check dimensions against tolerance would be helpful for learners. The construction industry is very keen on producing work that is ‘right first time’ and quality checks are an inherent part of the work in the industry. Learners can be encouraged to approach their work with care and build in a checking process as part of good practice.

Learners will require constructive feedback on peripheral aspects of joinery such as the safe transporting of tools, equipment and materials to the workspace and the planning and setting out of the work bench. Often such feedback is best delivered on a one-to- one basis.

In this unit there are many opportunities to build up an understanding of the behaviours and practices required of employees and employers. Responsible, safe behaviours in the workplace can be demonstrated and practised as part of the work routine. For example: learners will learn that a build-up of timber off-cuts around the workspace could be a tripping hazard; they will learn how to use hand tools and equipment in a safe manner and how to clean and maintain them. Daily routines in the workplace will include maintaining a clean and tidy workspace.

Where this unit is taken alongside the Construction Crafts: Employability Skills National 5 unit learners will have additional opportunities to develop an awareness of the general employability skills and attitudes which employers’ value. This may involve the learner assessing his/her own performance on time-keeping, attendance, taking instructions, seeking advice, planning and preparation, working co-operatively with others and, critically, on their general attitude to learning. Learners will also seek the views of tutors/supervisors and will identify areas for improvement and take responsibility for action plans. These activities will add value to the learner’s experience and help to enhance employability.

Outcome 1 should be integrated with Outcomes 2 and 3. Learners can naturally select, use and manage hand tools, equipment and materials when carrying out practical joinery tasks. Where it is possible to do so, underpinning knowledge should be integrated with practical activities in the workshop or project area. Nevertheless, underpinning knowledge is not separately assessed in this unit. Applied knowledge is assessed by observation as learners complete each practical task.

Guidance on approaches to assessment of this unit

Evidence can be generated using different types of assessment. The following are suggestions only. There may be other methods that would be more suitable to learners.

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Centres are reminded that prior verification of centre-devised assessments would help to ensure that the national standard is being met. Where learners experience a range of assessment methods, this helps them to develop different skills that should be transferable to work or further and higher education.

It is expected that learners will be given as much practice as possible in joinery techniques prior to being set the assessment tasks. As the ability to correctly manufacture joints is central to the completion of the overall task, it makes sense that a significant proportion of the time in this unit is devoted to practising the manufacture of a variety of joint types and checking these against the prescribed standards and tolerances.

Learners may have some basic knowledge of timber joints when they start this unit. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that they will have prior experience of the relatively specialist jointing techniques found in this unit.

The jointing techniques can be assessed discretely as Outcome 2. However, it is recommended that assessment of all three outcomes is carried out as a single integrated exercise, even if it encompasses a number of workshop sessions.

The evidence requirements for the unit detail the quality and quantity of work to be produced for the unit assessment. The performance criteria require that joinery exercises be completed to prescribed standards and tolerances. The tolerances required by the assessment task are significantly less stringent than those required by National Occupational Standards. Nevertheless, such use of tolerances introduces learners to the kind of quality regime they will experience if and when they pursue a career as a joiner or other tradesperson in the construction industry.

Assessor observation checklists and other assessment records should be maintained and kept up to date to keep track of learner progress and to provide evidence for internal and external moderation purposes. The ASP for this unit provides an observation checklist.

Centres may develop their own instruments of assessment but these must be of a comparable standard to the item. Pre-moderation of own instruments of assessment by the SQA is strongly recommended.

Opportunities for e-assessment

E-assessment may be appropriate for some assessments in this unit. By e-assessment we mean assessment which is supported by Information and Communication Technology (ICT), such as e-testing or the use of e-portfolios or social software. Centres which wish to use e-assessment must ensure that the national standard is applied to all learner evidence and that conditions of assessment as specified in the evidence requirements are met, regardless of the mode of gathering evidence. The most up-to-date guidance on the use of e-assessment to support SQA’s qualifications is available at www.sqa.org.uk/e-assessment.

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Opportunities for developing Core Skills

Opportunities for developing aspects of Core Skills should be incorporated where they arise naturally in the learning and teaching process. In this unit, learners will make simple calculations in requisitioning materials with allowance for waste and cutting. Accurate measurement is required for cutting materials to prescribed or ‘to fit’ lengths. Learners may also measure various ‘check’ dimensions as verification of a correctly manufactured overall frame. These are good opportunities for developing aspects of Numeracy.

Learners will read instructions for work activities, including the specifications of materials required for the practical activity. They will also take part in discussions with peers and tutors regarding work tasks, interpretation of drawings, materials, use of tools and workshop protocol. These activities present opportunities for developing aspects of Communication Skills.

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General information for learners

Unit title: Construction Crafts: Bench Joinery (National 5)

This section will help you decide whether this is the unit for you by explaining what the unit is about, what you should know or be able to do before you start, what you will need to do during the unit and opportunities for further learning and employment.

No previous bench joinery experience is necessary as the content in this unit covers practical joinery activities at an introductory level. However if you have previous experience of bench joinery at National 4 level, this unit will allow you to extend your skills. Undertaking practical workshop activities, you will fabricate a dressed timber frame. The timber frame will employ a variety of different constructional joints and you will spend some time in mastering the techniques involved in cutting and shaping timber to form such joints.

You will develop the ability to select and use a variety of tools and equipment correctly and safely. During the process of completing the practical work you will become accustomed to the use of joinery terms and be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of these terms in everyday practice. You will also learn how to carry out quality checks on your own work at intermediate stages as well as at the completion of the end product.

There are opportunities to develop aspects of the Using Number component of Numeracy as you make simple calculations in requisitioning materials with allowance for waste and cutting. Accurate measurement is required for cutting materials to prescribed or ‘to fit’ lengths. You may also measure various ‘check’ dimensions as verification of a correctly manufactured overall frame. You may also have the opportunity to develop aspects of Communication, as you interpret drawings and workshop protocols and also take part in discussions with peers and tutors regarding work tasks.

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Administrative information

Published: August 2013

Superclass: TG

History of changes to National unit specification

Version Description of change Date 4.0 Units moved into a new template and re-coded to align with May 2017 corresponding course 2 code. No change to unit content.

Core Skills Component Critical Thinking at SCQF level 4 embedded.

This specification may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes provided that no profit is derived from reproduction and that, if reproduced in part, the source is acknowledged. Additional copies of this unit can be downloaded from SQA’s website at www.sqa.org.uk.

Note: readers are advised to check SQA’s website: www.sqa.org.uk to ensure they are using the most up-to-date version of the unit specification.

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