DT Design and Technology

Intention Statement

At St Mary’s, we aim to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. We aim to build pupils’ awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens, preparing them for living in a modern world with rapidly changing and advancing technology. Through the study of design and technology, children will combine practical skills with an understanding of the aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industrial practices.

At St Mary’s we aim to inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts. The iterative design process is fundamental and runs throughout the lessons. This iterative process encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems. As part of the iterative process, time is built in to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this process. Opportunities are provided for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.

Implementation

We offer a coherently planned sequence of lessons to ensure pupils have progressively covered the knowledge, understanding and skills required in the National Curriculum. Design and Technology is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children achieve depth in their learning. Objectives are from the National Curriculum and are taught through the Lancashire Scheme of work. Teachers have identified the key knowledge, vocabulary and skills of each topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across topics throughout each year group across the school. Cross curricular outcomes in Design and technology are planned for, with links between the Design and technology curriculum and other subjects such as Mathematics enabling further contextual learning. The local area is also fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, for example visit to Queen’s park to see how playground equipment is designed.

Design and Technology is taught as a stand-alone subject split into the three strands of mechanical, textiles and cooking with links being made to other areas of the curriculum where those links are strong. Children coming into St Mary’s have limited access to activities and experiences which promote and develop skills used within cooking and Design and Technology. On entry, children tend to have underdeveloped fine motor skills, which are significantly improved through the carefully planned and facilitated provision within EYFS. The children are discretely taught what makes a good designer and that the designing process is a cyclical sequence where designers are constantly looking for ways to seek solutions and improve their products further. They will also have the opportunity to test and refine their products by practising using prototypes. Children will have the opportunity to develop their textiles abilities during Christmas crafting and Year 6 will use computer aided design as part of their textiles unit. From EYFS all the way through to year 6, all children experience high quality cooking days which teaches them crucial techniques when preparing food- this is often part of the Food For Life Taste Ed sessions. In 2023, the school achieved the Silver Food for Life Award. In 2024 the school achieved the gold award in 3 out of 4 aspects for food for life.

Design and Technology Disciplinary Skills Taught