Design Technology
Design Technology at Overleigh St Mary’s C of E Primary School
Curriculum Intent Statement for D.T. 2023-24
In design and technology children will be provided with the opportunities and experiences to reach the desired National Curriculum expectations for D.T. by the end of Key Stage Two.
Informed
- Children learn about a range of inventions, inventors and designers. They use these as inspiration for their own designs using a range of medias and genres to create a range of prototypes and products.
- Children understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.
Articulate
- Through the teaching of subject specific technical vocabulary and opportunities to evaluate and reflect upon design, children develop their ability to think critically and present their views and ideas
Empowered
- Through the children designing, creating and evaluating for a purpose, children are empowered to problem solve, persevere and learn new skills. Children will achieve this through the developmental progression in the knowledge, skills and understanding of the subject.
The ‘trial and improvement’ model in DT means having a growth mind-set is essential in empowering children with the confidence to have a go, to learn from mistakes and to keep trying and improving.
The children will work through key processes beginning with investigation and the undertaking of a focussed task which will underpin their designing and making work. When they have completed the making of their product, for a specific use, they will evaluate their results- suggesting possible moderations to improve the effectiveness of their product.
The curriculum is designed so that children either design and create a product for a purpose or to solve a problem. This supports their belief that they can be great designers.
To promote variety and provide a full range of experiences, there is an underpinning progression through key topics in D.T. such as mechanics, the use of shell structures, food technology and computing links which will occur across their time at Overleigh.
All children, including those who have SEND or disadvantaged groups, fully access the DT curriculum. This may include additional adult support or use of visuals or adapted tools. Structured sentence stems and taught vocabulary scaffolds children in discussion.
Implementation
Children explore key concepts as they move through the school. Our curriculum is laid out in such a way that the children will initially learn about their Design Technology encompassed in their knowledge and understanding of the world. This will be a starting block in EYFS and built upon as they enter Key Stage 1. Once this is consolidated, they will gain a wider experience of the designing, making and evaluating of products. As a child moves through our school, their knowledge and understanding will deepen as it would have been built on the foundations laid in the previous years. The concepts that children explore are revisited in different units that include mechanisms, electrical systems and mechanical systems allowing children to apply new knowledge to the concept in order to prepare them for future learning and life.
For example, children in Key Stage 1 might focus more on practically making a playground swing, whereas study in Lower Key Stage 2 would be enhanced through looking at stiffening and strengthening such a structure, moving through to looking at the mechanical systems that enable the swing to move efficiently in Upper Key Stage 2.
We teach Design Technology as a discrete subject. Where it benefits learning, we use opportunities to apply in other subjects, for example, use of key measurements in maths, or creating instructions in English to re-create a particular design project or evaluate a finished product in relation to how it is suited to its original purpose.
- The DT scheme of work lays out the sequential steps so that new knowledge and skills build on prior learning and pupils can work towards clearly defined high quality outcomes.
- DT is taught in units, with weekly lessons for 3 out of the 6 half terms.
- Each strand of DT is revisited to ensure pupils retain and build upon prior learning.
- DT is resourced with a range of appropriate tools and materials
- The DT lead supports teachers and monitors standards by providing medium term plans, reviewing planning of units and talking to children about their designs and products.
- All children, including those with SEND and other vulnerable groups, will have access to the full breadth of the curriculum with work being adapted through the adaption of materials, tools and manipulatives used, or through expected work outcomes, by the class teacher.
Our key vocabulary for each unit is identified in medium term planning and through unit cards for each topic, and children will learn key vocabulary as stated on each planning card. The children will also develop knowledge of key facts in each unit, dependent on the focus and progressing through from EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Lower Key Stage 2 to the top of the school in Upper Key Stage 2.
We implement our curriculum using planning that prioritises five key elements of knowledge and understanding:
- Designing
- Making
- Evaluating
- Technical knowledge
- Food and Nutrition
Each unit of design technology work will include the following key elements and is underpinned by our school’s use of the Design and Technology Association’s ‘Projects on a Page’ progressive implementation support tool:
Impact
Our Design Technology Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to ensure progression. Our teachers measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- A knowledge check at the beginning of each unit to see what the children already know
- Link each of our core strands to previous learning, to compare and contrast and to review understanding
- Start lessons with a recap of key knowledge and understanding from the previous session
- Provide opportunities each lesson to use the key vocabulary
- Provide opportunities for open-ended tasks, to allow the more able students to demonstrate their greater knowledge
- Assess children at the end of the unit against key knowledge and learning
The leadership team check that this impact is being secured through monitoring the subject on a regular basis. The method of monitoring supports the ongoing development of the curriculum. This includes:
- Staff subject knowledge, which is audited each year to ensure knowledge is secure, and additional support provided if necessary
- Termly staff meetings linked to SIP to discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of topics with the subject leaders. From this, medium term planning is amended and adapted to ensure the curriculum remains relevant for the children
- A ‘pupil voice’, which is conducted at the beginning and end of each year to allow pupils to contribute to their curriculum content
- Monitoring of work against the medium-term plans in Spring term, so that inconsistencies can be addressed
- Tracking of content against the long-term plan of the school, to ensure the full breadth of the curriculum is met.
The impact of this is to ensure that children at Overleigh are equipped with skills and knowledge of Design Technology, which will enable them to be ready for the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in the wider world.