DESIGN TECHNOLOGY AT ST RICHARD'S

OUR INTENT

At St. Richard’s Primary School we have designed a curriculum with the intent that our children will gain a practical understanding of the world around them, and become resilient, independent and creative thinkers. We aim to provide children with a DT education that is relevant in our rapidly changing world. We want to encourage our children to become problem solvers who can work creatively on a shared project.

We believe that high-quality DT lessons will inspire children to think independently, innovatively and develop creative, procedural and technical understanding. Our DT curriculum provides children with opportunities to research, represent their ideas, explore and investigate, develop their ideas, make a product and evaluate their work. We believe that children should have a variety of different experiences including as much first-hand practise as possible. Children will experience a range of skills within their Design and Technology subjects but as a school we have chosen to focus on the following: food technology, textiles and structures and mechanisms; through this, children will develop their skills, vocabulary and resilience.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DESIGN TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM 

The teaching of Design and Technology across the school follows the National Curriculum. Children design products with a purpose in mind and an intended user of the products. Food technology is implemented across the school with children developing an understanding of where food comes from, the importance of a varied and healthy diet and how to prepare this.

Design and technology is a crucial part of school life and learning and it is for this reason that as a school we are dedicated to the teaching and delivery of a high quality Design and Technology curriculum; through well planned and resourced projects and experiences. We aim as a school to allow pupils to develop design and making skills using a wide range of tools and materials.

IMPACT OF OUR DESIGN TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM 

Within design and technology, we strive to prepare children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. We aim to encourage children to become creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. Through the study of design and technology, children combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as of functions and industrial practices. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impact. Our design and technology curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary progression also form part of the units of work. As designers children will develop skills and attributes they can use beyond school and into adulthood.

OUR LONG TERM PLAN FOR DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

Please see below for our long term plan for Design Technology in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. If possible we make links with the Big Pictures the class are studying. We use a combination of teacher-led planning as well as planning from the 'Kapow' schemes of work.