Design and Technology prepares children to deal with tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. It encourages children to become independent, creative problem-solvers and thinkers as individuals and as part of a team, teaching life skills and making positive changes to their quality of life. Through the study of Design and Technology, learners combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industrial practices. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impacts.
Intent
At Greenbank Primary School, our intent is to ensure our Design and Technology curriculum is inspiring, practical and engaging. Design and Technology should foster creativity, encourage children to develop problem-solving skills, and give children a range of practical abilities, preparing them to tackle real-world challenges. Learners are encouraged to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts. They consider the needs, wants and values of both themselves and others. We aim to educate students in how to analyse and solve problems, produce high quality solutions and learn how to convert their ideas into working products. Our children are also given opportunities to reflect upon and evaluate past and present design technology, its uses and its effectiveness and are encouraged to become innovators and risk-takers. At Greenbank, we endeavour to provide children with abroad range of skills and experiences to ensure they have the widest range of opportunities possible.
Implementation
D.T. is a foundation subject within the National Curriculum. The aims of teaching D.T. at Greenbank Primary School are consistent with our School Mission Statement and take into account the requirements set by the current National Curriculum. We aim to develop the whole person by giving our children opportunities to reach the full potential in D.T. through a variety of creative and practical activities, we teach the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making.
KS1
• investigate things and say how they work, what they do and what they are made of;
• plan what to make and be able to tell someone else about it;
• make things from our plans and be able to say what has or has not worked well and why;
• work with tools and equipment safely to measure and mark, cut and shape, join and combine and decorate and finish different materials;
• learn about how to use different materials and mechanisms.
KS2
• investigate and evaluate products to help generate ideas for our own work;
• make detailed plans for our ideas showing what we want to achieve and how to do it;
• use our plans to make products, evaluating and adapting our ideas as we work;
• work with tools and equipment safely and accurately to measure and mark, cut and shape, join and combine and decorate and finish different materials;
• learn about how different materials and mechanisms can be used for a purpose.
At Greenbank Primary School, Design and Technology is taught through a carefully planned curriculum that covers the key areas of food and nutrition, mechanisms, structures, systems, electrical systems, materials and textiles. These areas are revisited throughout each key stage, allowing pupils to build upon prior knowledge and develop increasingly sophisticated skills and understanding.
Our curriculum is designed to ensure clear progression across year groups, enabling children to develop confidence in the design process. Working as designers, pupils learn to design, make, evaluate and apply their learning to solve real and relevant problems. Through practical and engaging experiences, children develop creativity, resilience, technical knowledge and problem-solving skills.
The Design and Technology curriculum reflects the aims of the National Curriculum by enabling pupils to develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to participate in an increasingly technological world. Pupils learn to design and make high-quality products for a range of users, evaluate and improve their ideas and outcomes, and develop an understanding of nutrition and healthy eating.
Vocabulary and oracy are integral to our curriculum. Subject-specific vocabulary is explicitly taught within each unit, enabling pupils to discuss their ideas, designs and evaluations with confidence. Children are encouraged to use accurate technical language, explain their thinking, justify decisions and evaluate their own work and the work of others, helping them become effective communicators as well as skilled designers.
Impact
At Greenbank, we want to ensure that children:
• 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 and 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.
• Children will design and make a range of products.
• Understand that a good quality finish will be expected in all design and activities made appropriate to the age and ability of the child.