Design and Technology
Intent
In Design Technology, the intent of our curriculum is to build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users, drawing on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.
Children will develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. Children will critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others. Children will understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.
This is linked closely to some of our school values of creativity and perseverance, developing designs and evaluating results to produce the best products possible. We want our children to develop a critical understanding of Design Technology, including evaluation of past and present design, understanding its impact on daily life and the wider world. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.
Implementation
The aims of the Design and Technology curriculum follow that of the National Curriculum, ensuring children have the opportunity to design, make and evaluate existing products as well as their own. Children will develop technical knowledge, build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable; children will explore and use mechanisms in their products. High expectations are set for all learners regardless of their background or attainment level.
The Design and Technology curriculum is designed so that taught knowledge and skills are built upon each week, term and year, with strong links to our local community. This helps our children to know more, remember more and do more. To aid children’s retention of knowledge and skills we use knowledge organisers, low stakes retrieval quizzes as well as ongoing formative assessment and feedback. Our children are proactive in each Design and Technology lesson, identifying how their previous learning supports the understanding of new concepts. Concepts are further strengthened and developed through the teaching of subject specific vocabulary to help children explain their understanding. Furthermore, the children’s Design and Technology capital is nurtured through building their understanding of significant engineers, designers, chefs and architects, and how the design technology they are learning links to current sustainable world goals.
Impact
Children are an active part of assessing their own learning, through regular feedback in lessons and through post learning quizzes. At the end of each unit, teachers assess children’s progress against the objectives of the National Curriculum for technical knowledge and skills based around designing, making and evaluating products, using a rigorous assessment tool. These assessments build an accurate picture of each child’s overall progress in Design Technology as they move from year group to year group, to ensure they are ready for the next stage of their learning.
If you would like any further information about our curriculum, please contact the school office.