Design and Technology

Our Intent

Our Design and Technology offers a coherently planned sequence of lessons to ensure pupils have progressively covered the knowledge, understanding and skills required in the National Curriculum. Our curriculum aims to inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts. The iterative design process is fundamental and runs throughout the units. This iterative process encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems. As part of the iterative process, time is built in to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this process. Opportunities are provided for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.

Aims
The curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:
• develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
• 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
• critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others 
• understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

Our Implementation

Design and Technology skills and understanding are built into lessons, following an iterative process. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our lesson plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills, knowledge and challenge. The revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each lesson. This vocabulary is then included in display materials and additional resources to ensure that children are allowed opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge. Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of Design and Technology and see how it has helped shaped the ever-evolving technological world they live in.

EYFS

Practitioners will;
• Model to pupils how to join different material, displaying a variety of techniques and providing opportunities to investigate and experiment.
• Provide opportunities for pupils to design, make and evaluate products in different areas of provision.
• Model how to use a variety of tools safely.
• Provide safe opportunities for children to practice using and handling these tools.
• Develop pupil’s vocabulary around materials, tools, techniques, purpose, form and function.
• Provide opportunities for pupils to explore materials freely.
• Provide opportunities to investigate how things work.
• Provide opportunities to make healthy snacks and to bake.

KS1 & 2

Substantive Knowledge: Children are taught the substantive knowledge to:

Design
Use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose,
aimed at particular individuals or groups
Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design

Make
Select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks (for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing)
accurately
Select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according
to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities

Disciplinary Knowledge:  Through disciplinary knowledge, children will be able to:

Evaluate
Investigate and analyse a range of existing products
Evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work
Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world

Apply Technical knowledge
Apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures
Understand and use mechanical systems in their products
Understand and use electrical systems in their products
Apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products

Unit Plans

Each half term will have either an Art and Design or a Design Technology focus.

In KS1 there are 4 themes: food, mechanisms, textiles and structures. 

In KS2 there are 6 themes: food, structures, textiles, mechanical systems, and electrical systems. 

In all year groups, a food and nutrition unit is taught each year. 

A Spiral Curriculum

Our Design and Technology curriculum is organised into units of four lessons. Within each unit, lessons must be taught in order as they build upon each other. The curriculum is designed as a spiral curriculum with the following key principles in mind:

Cyclical: Pupils return to key areas again and again during their time in primary school.

Increasing depth: Each time a key area is revisited it is covered with greater complexity.

Prior Knowledge: Upon returning to each key area, prior knowledge is utilised so pupils can build upon previous foundations, rather than starting again.

Our Impact

The impact of using the full range of resources, including display materials, will be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of Design and Technology. The learning environment across the school will be consistent with design and technology technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners. Design and Technology is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of skills and understanding, now and in the future. Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as success criteria grids and summative assessments.