INTENT

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. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.

At Trottiscliffe C of E Primary School we want our children to have a curriculum that teaches them:

To Design – how to create and adapt a design or recipe based on specific design criteria, for an identified target audience or for a specific purpose.

To Make – how to use a range of tools, materials and processes competently and confidently to create, construct or cook their chosen design or recipe.

To Evaluate – how to look at and talk about the features of existing products, their own and other’s designs and how to test, adapt and improve designs and end products.

Technical Knowledge – how to use information about mechanical systems, structures, textiles, electrical systems and cooking and nutrition to inform their design process and final products.

IMPLEMENTATION

The planning is organised to provide progression and opportunities for children to revisit and reinforce prior knowledge, skills and techniques. Through a range of different creative and practical activities and briefs we teach the skills, technical knowledge and understanding needed to successfully design, make and evaluate their own products.

Our curriculum progression from the early years and through each key stage is as follows:

Within Reception

• We teach, encourage and support our children to express themselves creatively and to communicate their emotions with an unrestricted license.
• We model and support the development of skills, techniques and capabilities to draw, paint, model, cut out, stick, sculpt, join and shape….. to choose any medium they desire that best helps them to express their free spirit and emotions. We are interested in the process rather than the product.
• We provide the same practical resources, mediums and materials for the children to freely explore and experience before learning about them within the national curriculum, such as junk modelling, cooking, sewing and woodwork provision.
• We talk about children’s models and their design process and decisions as they create and construct, supporting their use of simple joining and shaping techniques.
• We talk about different food groups and nutrition and the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Within KS1:

• Our children explore cooking and nutrition, mechanisms, structures and textiles by designing and making smoothies, moving story books and monsters, model cars with wheels and axels, ferris wheels, windmills, chairs (for baby bears), puppets and pouches.
• They use about fruits, vegetables and other food groups; levers, sliders, linkages, wheels and axels; 2D nets and 3D structures; templates and fabric joining techniques, running stitch.
• They learn how to test, describe, suggest, compare, review, reflect and discuss their designs and final products.
• They understand a balanced diet, where to find nutritional information, how to design a healthy snack and chop/slice fruit and vegetables safely; what a mechanism is and how to follow a design brief; the purpose of structures and how shape and design can affect strength and stiffness; the benefits of different textiles techniques for joining.

Within Lower KS2:

• Our children explore cooking and nutrition, mechanisms, structures and textiles by designing and making crumbles, kebabs, tarts and biscuits, pneumatic toys, slingshot cars, recycled material castles, pavilions, cushions, book sleeves, static electricity games and torches.
• They use fruits, vegetables and other food groups; pneumatic systems and moving mechanisms; frames and shells to create structures, materials to reinforce structures and add effects; decorative fabric techniques, cross stitch and a range of fastenings; static electricity, conductors, insulators and batteries.
• They learn how to test, describe, consider, suggest and give constructive criticism about their own and others designs and final products.
• They understand the impact of climate, cost and production on food and the environment, how to use seasonal ingredients and consider different elements of a dish (taste, texture, smell and appearance), how to use a budget when designing a dish, basic rules to avoid food contamination and how to follow and adapt a recipe; how pneumatic systems work and about kinetic energy; how to select and appropriate materials and manipulate these to create different effects (such as cutting, creasing, folding, weaving), specific terminology (ie strut, tie, span, beam) and what architects consider when designing; how to make a template, write design criteria and when to use different types of techniques and fastenings with textiles, using a paper template; how to identify design criteria, consider a target audience and create success criteria, about static and stored electricity and how they can be used within electrical systems, how to use a wider range of materials and equipment safely.

Within Upper KS2:

• Our children explore cooking and nutrition, mechanisms, structures and textiles by designing and making healthy recipes and menus, pop up books, automata toys, bridges, playground equipment, stuffed toys, waistcoats, electric greeting cards and steady hand games.
• They use all food groups; levers, sliders, layers and spacers, woodwork tools to measure, mark, saw and assemble; attachments, fastenings, applique, blanket stitch, running stitch and decorative stitches; electrical circuits, electromagnetic motors and batteries.
• They learn how to research, adapt, suggest, improve, test, identify, apply and describe their own and others designs and final products.
• They understand food production processes, welfare issues and how to develop a menu, how to prepare food and use tools and equipment safely and avoid cross contamination, how to follow and adapt a recipe, measuring ingredients accurately and working to a given timescale; how mechanisms create and change motion, to make mechanisms and assemble their components accurately, selecting appropriate materials for these; how structures can be created and strengthened and the difference between manmade and natural structures; how to use design criteria and annotate designs, sew a range of stitches with independence and accuracy ensuring stitches are even and regular; about series and parallel circuits and how to design a simple electrical control circuit and electromagnetic motor, how to create a labelled design and draw designs from different perspectives, what is meant by ‘fit for purpose’ design and ‘form follows function’.

IMPACT

The children are at the heart of all of our teaching and learning and we strive to ensure that during our time with us they will be able to do the following:

• Children will be able to demonstrate knowledge and creativity through their design processes.
• Children will have the ability and skills to use tools and techniques safely and effectively to make prototypes and products for a range of users.
• Children will be able to show an awareness of nutrition, the processes involved in food production and be able to cook from a recipe.

We use a variety of strategies to monitor and assess the progression of the skills, knowledge and thinking of the children through the use of:

• Termly displays
• Book looks
• Lesson observations
• Pupil voice