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Design and Technology

‘Good buildings come from good people, and all problems are solved by good design.’ Stephen Gardiner (British Architect)

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

 

Why is it important to teach Design & Technology? 

Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. D&T should provide children with a real-life and relevant context for learning. As a STEM trust, we encourage children to use their inquiry, observation, creativity, problem-solving, flexibility, and collaboration skills to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants, and values. Through the D&T curriculum, children should be inspired by engineers, designers, chefs, and architects to enable them to create a range of structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems, and food products with a real-life purpose.

 

Key Concepts:

  •        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.

 

Curriculum Design

Our D&T curriculum provides a clear and comprehensive document that will show progression of skills and vocabulary across all key stages within the strands of D&T. All teaching of D&T follows the design, make, and evaluate cycle. Each stage is rooted in technical knowledge. The design process is rooted in real-life, relevant context and linked with our topic to ensure meaning and purpose to the learning. While making, children are provided with choice of a range of tools to choose freely from. To evaluate, children evaluate their finished products against a design criterion. Each of these stages are given equal weight.

 

In KS1 this looks like:

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

 

 

In KS2 this looks like:

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