Design & Technology (DT) Curriculum

Intent

At All Saints our Design and Technology curriculum aims to inspire and improve pupils' imaginations using a range of practical disciplines such as computing, engineering, science, maths and art.  Over four years children will learn about and use a variety of skills, materials and technologies such as paper, clay, food and wood among others.  In DT children will be encouraged to use creativity and imagination to design, make, evaluate a range of products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, building on their prior technical knowledge. Where possible we link the children's DT work to our topics with discretely taught specific skills. Children will also employ skills and knowledge from other parts of the curriculum, especially maths and English, to be successful in this subject.

Food technology is an important aspect of DT and children across both Lower and Upper School classes will be taught cooking and nutrition. We believe that instilling a love of food preparation in pupils will enable them to creatively become independent, gaining steps and preparing them to look after themselves. We believe that it is important that pupils learn the importance of a balanced diet and food hygiene, linked to associated concepts in science and PSHE.

Our aim at All Saints is to link design and technology aspects to wider areas of the curriculum and highlight the relevance that it has in life, whether historically, in the present or the future.   As a result, we hope that children will leave us with a growing knowledge and ability to apply their skills in the wider context of enterprise, culture, leisure and enterprise, to be 21st-century citizens with the potential to make a significant contribution to the world around them.

Implementation

Planning

Teachers plan a variety of creative and practical activities in order to ensure that pupils are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in a process of designing, making and evaluating work so that their finished product becomes perfected. The resources we plan from have been carefully collated by the DT Subject Leader, drawing upon a range of sources, including those available from the Design and Technology Association. Children should work in a range of relevant contexts in order to cook, prepare food and make products (for example, the home, school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment).

Teaching

In their KS1 settings, pupils should have been taught how to design, make and evaluate, but also to gain specific technical knowledge such as exploring how buildings can be made stronger and using mechanisms (levers, slides, wheels). As a KS2 setting, our pupils will continue deepening their skills to design, make and evaluate products, but their technical knowledge will develop and build on existing skills to strengthen and reinforce more complex structures, use mechanical systems in their products (for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages), understand and use electrical systems in their products (for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors) and apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products. While KS1 should have taught pupils to use basic principles of a healthy, varied diet to prepare and ensure pupils understand where food comes from, we will develop our KS2 pupils' knowledge regarding balanced diets and apply their skills from KS1 in order to prepare a wider range of dishes using a range of techniques. Our children will also be taught to understand seasonality and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.

Learning

Pupils will acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, computing and art. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.

Assessment

Pupils will be assessed using a range of formative techniques and will be encouraged to regularly peer and self review. Teachers will assess if pupils are working below expected, at the expected level or working at greater depth against the national curriculum objectives.

Impact

We believe that teaching pupils in practical and creative lessons how to design, make and evaluate products will help to prepare them for 21st-century life after school. We believe that we are teaching life-long skills of how to craft and make products for themselves and also vital skills in how to cook a balanced, healthy diet. We believe that, when taught well, a high-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation. This will be evidential in the ongoing assessment data collated by Class Teachers. The delivery of the design & technology curriculum is monitored by the DT Subject Leader, who reports appropriately to Senior Leaders and Governors.