‘Anyone who has never made a mistake has made anything new.’ – Albert Einstein

‘Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.’ – Brian Reed 

‘Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.’ Robert L. Peters

 

DT Lead in school – Mrs G Cokill

Design Technology School Overview

Term EYFS Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four Year Five Year Six
Autumn  Various  *Playground Furniture *Bread-making *Lever/Pivot pictures *Greek Salad *Viking Pulley *Moving Boats
Spring  Various  *Moving Pictures *Safari Jeep *Footwear *Torches *Moon Buggy *Anderson Shelter
Summer Various  *Fruit Salad *Glove Puppet *Pizza-making *Egyptian Shadufs *Bridges/

Brazilian Food

 *Spring Rolls


                                                    Design Technology Policy

Intent 

  • Pupils will develop creativity, resilience and evaluative skills which will support them in their later lives. 
  • Pupils will understand and be able to implement the Design and Technology process from conception to the finished product.
  • Design and Technology prepares pupils to participate in an ever changing technological world by becoming discriminating, informed users and innovators of products. 
  • They learn to think creatively to improve the quality of life by looking for and responding to human needs, wants and interests. 
  • They combine their understanding of relevant and past design and technology with practical skills to design, make and evaluate their own products. 
  • Pupils will develop an understanding of a healthy and balanced diet and take part in at least one food project each year to learn skills to prepare, cook and present healthy food. 

Definition

 Design and Technology is a subject where children’s capability in designing and making is developed through combining their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding. We view Design and Technology as a subject which allows children to apply their knowledge and understanding in a creative way to design and make products. 

“Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, 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. “

Aims 

  • The national 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.

 

Planning

 Foundation Stage

 

Children in the EYFS will undertake investigative and skills based tasks during independent working time. The Design and Technology area will be available to them on a daily basis and they will be encouraged to undertake focused practical tasks through directed and self-initiated stimuli. They will be provided with resources based on topics within the focus of the classroom and will be encouraged to design and develop ideas independently. Children in the EYFS  work on a range of creative themes and tasks, and their work in Creative Development links closely to other areas of the Foundation Stage Profile, especially Physical Development.

 Key Stage 1

 Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home and school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider environment]. When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:

Design

 – Design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria – Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology 

Make

 – Select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing] – Select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics

 Evaluate

 – Explore and evaluate a range of existing products – Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria 

Technical knowledge

 – Build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable

 – Explore and use mechanisms [for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles], in their products.

 Key Stage 1

 Children will undertake one unit of work per term, at least. They will also have opportunities during Design and Technology lessons to develop their own ideas and generate designs independently. Progression of Design and Technology skills will be monitored by staff formally and informally with references to expectations from the National Curriculum.

Planning will follow Medium term planning linked to National Curriculum guidelines.

 Key Stage 2

 Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home, school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment]. When designing and making, pupils should be taught 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 and exploded 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 

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 Technical knowledge

 – Apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures

 – Understand and 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]

 – Apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products 

Cooking and nutrition

 As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life. 

Pupils should be taught to:

 Key stage 1

 – Use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes – Understand where food comes from

 Key stage 2

 – Understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet 

– Prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques

 – Understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.

Health and Safety

 Teachers will always teach the safe use of tools and equipment and insist on good practice. 


The Role of the Design and Technology Co-ordinator is to:

 

  • lead the development of design and technology in school
  • provide guidance to individual members of staff
  • keep up to date with local and national developments in design and technology and disseminate relevant information
  • review and monitor the success and progress of the planned units of work
  • order stock linked to the planned units of work at the end of each term
  • be responsible for the organisation and maintenance of design and technology resources
  • co-ordinate any display of design and technology work 
  • Regularly update the DT llink  governors.


This policy will be reviewed annually by the co-ordinator.

 Intent, Implementation & Impact

 

Intent 

  • Pupils will develop creativity, resilience and evaluative skills which will support them in their later lives. 
  • Pupils will understand and be able to implement the Design and Technology process from conception to the finished product.
  • Design and Technology prepares pupils to participate in an ever changing technological world by becoming discriminating, informed users and innovators of products. 
  • They learn to think creatively to improve the quality of life by looking for and responding to human needs, wants and interests. 
  • They combine their understanding of relevant and past design and technology with practical skills to design, make and evaluate their own products. 
  • Pupils will develop an understanding of a healthy and balanced diet and take part in at least one food project each year to learn skills to prepare, cook and present healthy food. 

Implementation 

  • Pupils will experience a sequenced and varied curriculum using a wide range of materials and processes, making cross curricular links whenever possible. 
  • Pupils will have access to relevant and varied resources and be able to make independent informed choices. 
  • In Key Stages 1 and 2 Design and Technology is taught through the teaching of well-planned lessons using the National Curriculum and ‘Big Question’ led topical planning.
  • In the Foundation stage it is taught using guidance from the Expressive Arts and Design  strand in the EYFS. Both our nursery and reception classes are well-resourced to provide daily opportunities for child-led design and technology on a large and small scale as well as adult-led DT activities threaded into topical learning experiences. 
  • Every class carries out three Design and Technology projects per year, one of which must be a food based project. Pupils will be involved in at least one project each year to develop their cooking skills and enhance their knowledge and understanding of healthy eating.
  • Children are given the opportunity to look at key events and individuals in Design and Technology that have helped shape the world.

 Impact

 As a result of a well-structured and planned curriculum, pupils will understand Design and Technology as a process of plan, make and evaluate and they will understand, and be able to discuss, the relevance to their everyday lives.