Design and Technology
Intent
It is our belief that by offering children an inspiring, stimulating and challenging design technology
curriculum, we can equip them with the skills and knowledge they will need to thrive in a rapidly advancing technological world. Our design technology curriculum presents our children with experiences which develop their skills. We present them with challenging, relevant projects, which promote, encourage and develop their creativity. Through a diverse range of experiences, we actively encourage our children to be critical thinkers, forward planners and effective problem solvers. We also teach our children to be able to work as capable individuals and valuable, productive team members. Through our design technology curriculum, we teach our children about the impact of design and technology on the lives of people.
“High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation”
Long Term Plan
Overview of Design and Technology
At Scott Primary, we strive to creatively design and make products that solve real and relevant problems.
We promote an understanding of the Design and Technology (DT) process in the development of a rapidly changing world. DT includes the design and making of products for a specific need or purpose, and involves our children learning about the world we live in and developing a wide range of skills. DT encourages our children to learn to think creatively and to be problem solvers, both as individuals and as members of a team. Our children are taught to look for and respond to opportunities by developing a range of ideas and making a variety of products.
Our Aims
- To foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making.
- To develop imaginative thinking in our children and to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making
- To enable our children to talk about how things work, and to draw and model their ideas
- To encourage our children to select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures
- To ensure children gain experience and skills of a wide range of formal elements of DT
- To enable them to use experiences and skills gained from DT across a range of subjects, working creatively and solving problems
- To ensure progression of skills, and follow a sequence to build on previous learning.
- To develop an understanding of technological processes, products, their manufacture and their contribution to our society
Implementation
At Scott Primary, we follow a DT scheme that ensures progression of skills and covers all aspects of the Design and Technology curriculum. Where appropriate, aspects of this scheme are adapted to ensure that the specific needs of our children, within the wider context of our school and area, are met. We provide a broad and balanced DT curriculum that builds on previous learning and provides both support and challenge for our learners. Lessons aim to capture the interest and enthusiasm of our children.
The scheme follows the National Curriculum’s three main stages of design, make and evaluate. Each of the lessons are underpinned with the technical knowledge which encompasses contextual, historical and technical understanding required for each strand. Cooking and nutrition lessons are taught as a separate section where there is a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality. The five key strands are:
- Design
- Make
- Evaluate
- Technical knowledge
- Cooking and nutrition
Year groups alternate their teaching of DT each half term. There will be a scheduled DT lesson each week through one half term, and then a designated Design and Technology day for the next half term, repeated throughout the academic year.
Talk like a Designer
At Scott Primary, we understand the importance of language development in order to be effective communicators. In Design and Technology lessons, we ‘Talk like a Designer,’ through the sharing of key vocabulary relevant to each stage of the design process.
Aspire to be
At Scott Primary, we aim to inspire our children to reach for a range of jobs regardless of their culture, background or heritage. Therefore we use our aspire to be posters to give some information about the different jobs and professions that the children could want to do when they leave us. These posters are displayed around our school and the children have the opportunity to read them, learn from them and on most use a QR code to delve deeper into the person life.
