DT

Design and Technology

In Design and Technology at Kingsway Primary school, children are inspired to be creative and imaginative. 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. The children are taught to select and use appropriate tools safely and effectively to make a product. In all areas of Design and Technology the children are encouraged to consider the effectiveness of their designs and requirements of the product against the project title. 

We do the following in order to deliver our curriculum in Design Technology: 

• Develop imaginative thinking in children to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making;

• Enable children to talk about how things work, and to draw and model their ideas;

• Encourage children to select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures;

• Explore attitudes towards the modern world and how we live and work within it;

• Develop an understanding of technological processes, products, and their manufacture, and contribution to our society;

• Foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making.

Curriculum Intent and Implementation: Design Technology

At Kingsway Primary, we have constructed an ambitious curriculum that follows the content of the EYFS statutory framework and the National Curriculum.

The tailored scheme followed at Kingsway ensures design and technology projects are well sequenced and develop children’s designing, planning, making and evaluating skills. Each project is based around a design and technology subject focus of structures, mechanisms, cooking and nutrition or textiles.  Through our curriculum we intend to teach key concepts within each subject progressively, building upon previous knowledge within a context based framework, such as projects or a key question.

At Kingsway Primary School we have a dedicated team of well trained staff that work hard to reach high standards in everything we do.  We actively seek opportunities to develop as professionals through carefully selected CPD in order to acquire the most up subject knowledge.  We also celebrate areas of strength in teaching and develop this through means such as coaching.

We aim to take into account pupils' prior knowledge and learning in order to carefully sequence their next steps. Teaching and learning is underpinned by opportunities for repetition and practise of essential knowledge, skills and understanding across the curriculum.

The tailored scheme offers well planned and resourced projects providing children with a hands-on and enriching experience. Children develop a  range of skills and staff take care to ensure children are aware of health and safety issues related to the learning taking place. Teaching DT as a block of lessons termly following the teaching of a driver project allows the time needed for children to be critical, inventive and reflective of their work.

We are consistently reviewing our curriculum in order to strengthen the clarity of what we teach, plan, the learning process as well as links to prior learning in order to improve knowledge retention and deepen the learning experience for our pupils.

Within the curriculum, we have identified precise and clear end points for each subject for each half term. We are ambitious for all our pupils and expect them to work towards and achieve these end points in all curriculum areas. Design Technology is taught in blocks termly and throughout the projects, children are taught to work hygienically and safely.

EYFS End Point:

During the EYFS pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. They have the opportunities to explore different media and materials, express their own ideas and think about form, function and purpose.

Early years children make plans and construct with a purpose in mind using a variety of resources such as ‘junk modelling’ opportunities. Our pupils develop skills to use simple tools and techniques appropriately, effectively and safely whilst building on their fundamental hand-eye coordination, cutting and mark making skills. Pupils are given opportunities to select appropriate resources  and are then presented with age appropriate questioning allowing children to reflect upon their designs and make suggestions for future products.

KS1 End Point:

In KS1, all projects follow a structure where children are introduced to key concepts and build up knowledge and skills over time, using a more comprehensive range of equipment and building, cutting, joining, finishing and cooking techniques as they progress through school. All projects contain focused, practical tasks in the Develop stage to help children gain the knowledge and skills needed to complete their Innovate tasks independently. The projects include designing and making structures, understanding mechanisms and how to assemble and test wheels, axles, levers and linkages, following recipes to develop cooking skills and understanding textiles learning to cut, stitch and join using various techniques.

KS2 End Point:

Throughout KS2, children will continue to build up their knowledge and understanding of the iterative design process embedded in KS1. They design, make, test and evaluate their products to match specific design criteria and ensure they fit their purpose. Children in LKS2 will be immersed in new learning opportunities and begin to understand the concept of a balanced diet and making healthy meals, build on mechanisms by exploring cams and using joining and finishing techniques, further explore structure and how to adapt to improve strength, learn about food safety and preservation technologies, continue to explore textiles and delving into the works of designers.

As pupils progress into UKS2 they will deepen their understanding of mechanisms by studying pneumatic systems, continue to explore food and nutrition, Study the history of architecture and develop new ways to create structural strength and stability, and explore the electrical conductivity of materials. Children will consolidate their knowledge of structures, joining and strengthening techniques as well as electrical systems and finally  extend their knowledge of textiles by learning new stitches to join fabric and use pattern pieces to create a range of products.

We implement a tailored curriculum which incorporates well-structured lessons that are progressive in the skills, knowledge and the vocabulary we are hoping our children will acquire. Additionally, our scheme provides opportunities to revise and build on prior learning.  It acts as a scaffold for our teachers to recap and revisit knowledge each term.

Assessment is interwoven throughout the teaching of each design technology block that follows the driver project.  Summative and formative assessments are used by staff to check the understanding of key concepts as and when new skills are taught using the cornerstones assessment tracker.  At Kingsway primary School, we recognise the value of assessment as a learning tool which provides opportunities for teachers to enhance their offering and for pupils to strengthen their understanding.

Providing high-quality design and technology education ensures pupils leave Kingsway with the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being that will support them in further education and later life.

Our Design Technology curriculum is designed to be accessed by all pupils. Those with special educational needs and/or disabilities follow the full range of subjects with their peers. The schemes of work are ambitious however they do or will be adapted to meet the individual needs of its learners and we comply with the requirements set out in the SEND Code of Practice.  Staff are skilled at identifying the needs of their learners and in most instances are able to provide the resources or adapt their lessons to meet pupils' needs within the class setting.  If a child’s need is more severe we may involve the appropriate external agencies to support the children and make recommendations and assessments.

At Kingsway Primary School , we help children, many of whom start with prior skills, development and knowledge that are well below those expected for their age, to quickly gain knowledge and skills across all areas of the curriculum.

Children's work is presented throughout the school and is celebrated regularly. Memorable experiences are important at Kingsway and school visitors and trips are facilitated where appropriate to enhance pupils' understanding and skills, further helping to close potential gaps in our children's experience. At Kingsway Primary School, we have worked hard to ensure that all our pupils at every stage of their learning journey, have the opportunity to be exposed to reading materials.  It is our firm belief that reading is a vital skill, we therefore emphasise it throughout school.

Our planned units provide a broad range of quality texts, informing pupils about significant designers that both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. At Kingsway, we consider reading to be a vital life skill.  We therefore prioritise it and emphasise its importance.  We ensure that children read frequently and listen to adults read to them.  This develops their confidence, whilst promoting a love of reading for pleasure across subjects.

Impact:

Our Design and Technology Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress.

Curriculum coverage:

• Each class should undertake at least three Design and Technology units per year.

• Using the plans provided the children will cover key aspects in DT.

• Textiles, Structures, Mechanisms (KS1), Electrical or Mechanical Systems (KS2) and food technology.

• Teachers are to use our bespoke programme of study, the progression document for different concepts and refer to Long Term Plan to ensure clear coverage and progression of skills are met.

• Assessment for learning along with an assessment grid for each project will be used to track individual progress.

• Children will self-reflect and evaluate their own understanding through the use of evaluations at the end of each project.