Design Technology

Intent – What does the Design and Technology curriculum intend to do?

At our school, we intend for children to master Design and Technology to such an extent that they can go on to have careers within Design and Technology and make use of design and technology effectively in their everyday lives. Our children will be taught Design and Technology in a way that ensures progression of skills and follows a sequence to build on previous learning. Our children will gain experience and skills of a wide range of formal elements of design and concepts of technology in a way that will enhance their learning opportunities, enabling them to use design and technology across a range of subjects to be creative and solve problems, ensuring they make progress. This is to ensure that pupils are equipped to successfully think, work and communicate like a designer. Unapologetically ambitious, our curriculum focuses on excellence in this subject through a range of disciplines and by referencing outstanding practitioners in this field. We inspire pupils to acquire knowledge, as a designer, and enable them to skilfully attempt and apply their understanding throughout their lives.

Implementation – How is the curriculum implemented?

We follow a broad and balanced Design and Technology curriculum that builds on previous learning and provides both support and challenge for learners. Our Design and Technology curriculum is organised into blocks with each block covering a particular set of disciplines, including food and nutrition, mechanisms, structures and textiles along with two others which are Key Stage specific, understanding materials (KS1) and electrical systems (KS2). Vertical progression in each discipline has been deliberately woven into the fabric of the curriculum so that pupils can revisit key disciplines throughout their primary journey at increasing degrees of challenge and complexity. As well as developing core disciplines in Design and Technology, we aim to develop the pupil’s ability to work purposefully.

• All classes (Years 1-6) will have a scheduled Design and Technology lesson scheduled as part of a three-week block per half term, for a complete afternoon. This means that pupils will receive 12 hours of Design and Technology teaching and learning per term.
• All classes (Years 1-6) will have a Design and Technology lesson scheduled as part of a three-week block per half term, for a complete afternoon. This means that pupils will receive 12 hours of Design and Technology teaching and learning per term. Central to the learning modules are activities designed to develop pupils’ oracy and vocabulary skills to enable them to use artistic language meaningfully when talking about their work and the work of others.
• Children’s work will be documented in their D&T Design Journal, for reference and assessment. We want to ensure that Design and Technology is embedded in our whole school curriculum and that opportunities for enhancing learning by using Design and Technology are always taken.

Impact – What progress will children make?

Our children enjoy and value Design and Technology and know why they are doing things, not just how they are doing things. Children will understand and appreciate the value of Design and Technology in the context of their personal wellbeing and the creative and cultural industries and their many career opportunities.

Progress in Design and Technology is demonstrated through regularly reviewing and scrutinising children’s work, to ensure that progression of skills is taking place. Namely through:

• Looking at pupils’ D&T Design Journal, especially over time as they gain skills and knowledge;
• Observing how they perform in lessons;
• Knowledge captured tasks.

The Design and Technology curriculum will contribute to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. As a result, pupils will be able to talk confidently about their work and share their work with others. Progress will be shown while pupils are working. This helps us to understand pupils’ development as designers, rather than their ability to produce a prescribed end outcome. By encouraging pupils to articulate their thinking and reflections, we can understand which aspects of design and technology may require additional teaching and reshape teaching to support this.