All Saints CE Primary School Design and Technology Curriculum

Intent

At All Saints (CE) Primary School, we aim to provide children with a wide range of opportunities to evaluate, problem solve, design and make a range of purposeful products in meaningful contexts. We aim to develop the enquiry skills needed to explore how something works; the imaginative skills needed to draw, design and refine their ideas and the evaluative skills to return to the ‘drawing board’ to perfect their designs. We aim to offer our pupils with opportunities to build structures and mechanical systems, sew and cook confidently adhering to health and safety rules. As part of Design and Technology we aim for children to choose and use appropriate tools to carry out focussed practical tasks and when making their final design.

Implementation

Through the use of a standardised planning format ‘Projects on a Page’ from the D&T Association we aim to ensure that the six essentials of good practice in D & T and the requirements of the National Curriculum are covered.

• User – children have a clear idea of who they are designing and making products for.
• Purpose – children should know what the products they design and make are for and should perform a clearly defined task.
• Functionality – children should design and make products that function in some way to be successful. It is insufficient for children to design and make products which are purely aesthetic.
• Design Decisions – when designing and making, children have the opportunity to make informed decisions such as what they will use; who they will make the product for; how it will work and what task the product will perform.
• Innovation – projects will encourage a range of design ideas and products to be developed with open-ended starting points for their learning.
• Authenticity – children should design and make products that are believable, real and meaningful to themselves which offer opportunities for children to make their own design decisions.

D&T is taught through discrete, meaningful lessons in which children are taught three types of activity: Investigative and Evaluative Activities; Focused Tasks and Design, Make and Evaluate Assignments. Each year group focuses on three projects per year and each project focuses on a different set of skills. These skills are built upon as the topic is revisited in subsequent year groups.

The Projects on a Page cover the essentials of good practice but allow for flexibility for teachers and children to decide what products they will design and make. The Project Planners are context-free allowing links to be made to the rest of the curriculum. CPD for staff is provided through sketches, diagrams, tips and techniques on the Project Planners.

Impact

The impact of our teaching in Design and Technology is that all children at All Saints show an enjoyment and enthusiasm for the subject; they have an increased understanding of how things work; they understand how the knowledge and skills they have learnt relate to their lives and their future. The subject builds aspirations and opens up the children’s minds to the future career opportunities involved in this field.

Teachers assess the children’s work by making informal judgements during lessons and through formal assessments at the end of each project. We have clear milestones for what the children should know and be able to do by the end of Y2, Y4 and Y6. These assessments are monitored by the DT leader along with the delivery of the subject each term.