discover more about
Our Design & Technology Curriculum
Creativity is intelligence having fun.
Albert Einstein
Intent
It is our intent at Our Lady and St Edward’s to prepare our pupils for a rapidly changing world. We believe effective Design and Technology education cultivates creativity and imagination through problem solving as both individuals and as members of a team. Children are motivated through the design, make, evaluate process to produce a final outcome; a quality product fit for purpose by a service user. Therefore, we believe that Design and Technology should be taught as an individual, discrete subject though we aim to make links where possible between projects and other curriculum areas such as Mathematics, Science, Computing and Art. The children are provided with sufficient opportunities to reflect upon and evaluate past and present design technology, becoming critical of its benefits, limitations, uses and overall effectiveness. In summary, Design and Technology at OLSE is about encouraging creative, critical and innovative learners.
Implementation
At Our Lady and St Edward’s, we deliver Design and Technology lessons in 3 half-termly blocks and make cross curricular links where possible. The curriculum has been organised in a way which supports continuity and progression of skills. Children are able to draw upon knowledge and skills from the previous time they studied that focus area of learning. Food Technology is taught in every year group with textiles, mechanisms and structures being taught at least once over a two-year period. Planning is underpinned by our school Knowledge Organisers; these identify age-specific objectives covered in each unit. To further support our plans, we have collated all objectives for each year group into ‘Skill Progression’ documents, which provides further clarity with planning and allows gaps in learning to be identified and addressed as required. All D&T units follow a ‘design, make, evaluate, model. This allows children to fully experience the subject and develop their own identity.
Design: Children will use research to develop design criteria which will inform their own innovative and functional designs. These should be fit for purpose and user. They will generate designs and consequently evaluate and modify their design in light of discussion.
Make: Children will select from a wide range of tools and equipment; choosing resources which they feel are most applicable and relevant to support the creation of the intended final product.
Evaluate: Children investigate and analyse their own and existing products against a set criterion.
Alongside, the ‘design, make, evaluate’ model, children are supported at all times to develop their technical knowledge. Work is recorded in individual Design and Technology floor books, which move through the school with each class. This allows us to fully incorporate progression into the topic, with the continual encouragement for children to build on what they have already learnt.
We have identified themes throughout our DT curriculum which allow for key knowledge to be revisited and built upon as children move through the school. These themes are:
- Cooking and Nutrition (Seasonal Soup – Y1, Healthy Food Plate – Y2, Ice Cream Sundae – Y3, Healthy Recipes – Y4, Natural Nourishment: Bread & Honey) – Y5, Food to Fuel my Body – Y6)
- Mechanisms (Moving Pictures – Y1, Sand Buggies – Y2, Lifting the Load – Y3, Work Made Easy – Y5)
- Structures (Egg Box Dragons – Y1, Building Bridges – Y3, Designed for Disaster – Y4, Shelters for Survival – Y6)
- Textiles (Heartfelt Habitats – Y2, Light it Up! – Y4, Beauty from Above – Y5, Making Memories – Y6)
Impact
The impact of good Design and Technology teaching ensures that children develop creative, technical and practical expertise needed to successfully and confidently participate in our ever increasing technological world. Our progressive curriculum, allows for new techniques to be combined with previously learned ones to enhance the creation of final products. High quality teaching provides motivating and stimulating opportunities which contributes to developing children’s critical and evaluative thinking skills whilst simultaneously nurturing their creativity. Children are therefore supported to become resourceful, innovative and enterprising citizens.