Design and Technology at All Souls' CE
Design and Technology Curriculum Rationale
At All Souls’ CE Primary, we are all designers and technologists! We want our pupils to appreciate design and technology. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be architects, graphic designers, chefs or carpenters! We want them to embody our Christian core values. We all embrace the school motto of: “we are a place to grow’ – this is both spiritually and academically. High quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation. The Design and Technology curriculum has been carefully designed so that our pupils develop their designing knowledge and skills. We want all our pupils to remember their Design and Technology learning in our school, to cherish these experiences and embrace the opportunities they are presented with.
Curriculum Intent
The Design and Technology curriculum promotes curiosity and a love and thirst for learning. It is ambitious and empowers our pupils to become independent and resilient.
We want to equip pupils with ambition beyond the minimum statutory requirements of the Design and Technology National Curriculum and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. The curriculum is meticulously planned with the intention to address social disadvantage and ensure that all pupils - including those with SEND – have an opportunity to engage with a challenging curriculum and achieve success. Any gaps in pupils’ knowledge are quickly identified and addressed to ensure that pupils are supported to meet the ambitious intended end points of the curriculum in design and technology. We have designed the curriculum as a school and therefore the curriculum is unique to our school and meets the needs of our pupils and our context.
Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. The curriculum is focused upon the development of practical, theoretical and disciplinary knowledge drawing on disciplines from other subjects such as mathematics, science, computing and art. The curriculum is progressively sequenced to ensure that pupils learn how to take risks, become resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through practical work, the pupils learn the discipline of the subject and apply their knowledge and skills to think and work as a designer and technologist. The units studied supports the application of technical knowledge gained and encourages learners to design, make and evaluate the success of their product.
We want our pupils to use the vibrancy of our great town and wider city to learn from other cultures, respect diversity, co-operate with one another and appreciate what they have. We achieve this by providing a strong local contextual links where possible. For example, the curriculum offers a visitor to school from a local restaurant to promote healthy eating and balanced diets in a practical and engaging approach to cooking and nutrition.
British Values and our core values placed at the heart of everything we do. This often feeds into the Design and Technology curriculum. Cultural capital development is addressed through visits, online exploration virtual and first-hand experiences. We enrich pupils’ time in our school with memorable, unforgettable experiences and provide opportunities to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.
Curriculum Implementation
We effectively develop and invest in our teaching staff to ensure that they are fully equipped with expert subject knowledge in order to support the delivery of the exceptional design & technology curriculum. Teaching is highly effective for all pupils. Teachers present the curriculum content clearly through composites and component parts supported by unit booklets which break the unit knowledge, concepts and skills down for each lesson in each year group.
The curriculum is delivered through a subject specific approach which supports pupils to develop the key concepts and knowledge of the design & technology curriculum. Each lesson within a unit of work is carefully crafted and builds upon what has been previously taught from one year to the next.
Frequent audits of the design and technology curriculum take place. Following the findings from these audits, the design and technology curriculum is adapted to build upon the learning opportunities and assessment end points for each year group and ensures progression and repetition in terms of embedding key learning, knowledge and skills.
Pupils take inspiration from designers and technologists throughout history to help generate ideas for their work. They explore and practice the knowledge, skills and techniques involved in the unit and use their workbooks to record their plans and designs and to review and revisit ideas before producing a final product. This process is replicated for each Design and Technology unit. The way each discipline is taught is revisited in each phase, at a progressively deeper level.
Design and Technology subject specific characteristics, which we expect the pupils to demonstrate, have been developed and shared with all stakeholders. These characteristics underpin all work in Design and Technology and form a focal point for display areas and provide a common subject specific vocabulary for staff and pupils. These characteristics are:
- design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values
- apply their knowledge of maths, science, engineering, computing, art & design to design and technology
- make prototypes and products for a wide range of users
- critique, evaluate and test own ideas and products and the work of others
- take risks, become more resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable young citizens
- evaluate the past and the present design and technology and evaluate its impact on daily life and the wider world
- understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook
The teaching of the design and technology curriculum is planned and delivered to support pupils to transfer key knowledge into their long-term memory and therefore improve the progress they make. Essential vocabulary is identified within each lesson and unit of work to ensure that our pupils can discuss and evaluate the design and technology content effectively.
Whilst delivering the curriculum, teachers are constantly checking to ensure that pupils are learning the necessary knowledge and identifying and addressing misunderstandings. Assessment is used as a tool to support pupil learning.
The design and technology curriculum is research evidence informed in relation to the content, delivery and process of learning.
Curriculum Impact
We use both formative and summative assessment information in design and technology.
Assessment informs learning to ensure that all pupils including disadvantage and those with SEND achieve highly and acquire the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. Staff use assessment information to inform their short-term planning and address misconceptions. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils. The end points for each phase have been carefully mapped out and further broken down. This means that the essential knowledge, skills and concepts in design and technology are progressive and build year on year.
Our well-constructed curriculum in design and technology leads to pupils successful learning. This is evidenced in the outcomes within workbooks and practical work produced. Pupils are well prepared for the next steps and stages of their learning due to the progressive and well sequenced curriculum. As a result, pupils make excellent progress they know more and remember more as they move through the design and technology curriculum at All Souls’ CE Primary.
At All Souls' CE Primary School, we are
DESIGNERS AND TECHNOLOGISTS!
Key Documentation
Design Technology programmes of study:
Key Stages 1 and 2
Purpose of study
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.
Aims
The national curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:
- develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
- build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
- critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.
Attainment targets
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.
Schools are not required by law to teach the example content in [square brackets].
Subject content – Key stage 1
Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home and school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider environment].
When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:
Design
- design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
- generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology
Make
- select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing]
- select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics
Evaluate
- explore and evaluate a range of existing products
- evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria
Technical knowledge
- build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable
- explore and use mechanisms [for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles], in their products.
Subject content – Key stage 2
Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home, school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment].
When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:
Design
- use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups
- generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design
Make
- select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing], accurately
- select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities
Evaluate
- investigate and analyse a range of existing products
- evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work
- understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world
Technical knowledge
- apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures
- understand and use mechanical systems in their products [for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages]
- understand and use electrical systems in their products [for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors]
- apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.
Cooking and nutrition
As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.
Pupils should be taught to:
Key stage 1
- use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
- understand where food comes from.
Key stage 2
- understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet
- prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques
- understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.