Design and Technology Subject Leader: Miss L Whitbread
Design & Technology prepares pupils to deal with the ever-changing world. We aim to combine practical skills with knowledge and understanding; to provide opportunities for children to develop their capability through a variety of life skills including cooking, nutrition, design and making.
Intent
At Shorne C of E Primary School, our Design and Technology curriculum allows children to exercise creativity in designing and making through the acquisition of knowledge and taught skill based on real technology and design processes. They are taught to combine their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding in order to plan and make a product.
Implementation
Skills are taught progressively to ensure that all children are able to learn and practice in order to develop as they move through the school. Evaluation is an integral part of the design process and allows children to adapt and improve their product, a key skill which they need throughout their lives. D&T allows children to apply the knowledge and skills learned in other subjects, particularly Maths, Science and Art.
Impact
Pupils design and make products of a high standard, based on a solid understanding of technological processes. They acquire cooking skills and develop their understanding of nutrition and flavour. They are able to confidently articulate their thoughts, opinions and evaluations around designs and quality of products, and use a range of technical vocabulary. They understand that product failure is part of the learning process in Design and Technology and develop the resilience to adapt and test designs to improve products.
Design and Technology in Each Stage
Children learn design technology in EYFS under the umbrella of ‘Understanding the World’. They work with a range of materials and make judgements over suitability for construction, and learn to use a range of tools safely. Children describe how products are made up of different parts, and learn to draw and explain their designs, selecting the materials they would use to make a product. Children look at different ways that technology is applied to the world around us, discussing how things work and how things are made.
In Year 1 the children will begin to select different tools and materials for tasks and will start to explain why they have chosen them. Children will start to learn in greater depth how to be safe using tools. The children will start to explore joining different materials using tape and glue and will start to build simple structures based on their designs. The children will be encouraged to evaluate their own and others’ work and discuss the next steps to improve their work. The children will have the opportunity to explore and use wheels, axles, levers and sliders to make simple mechanisms. In Food Technology, the children will start to learn about a healthy and balanced diet and explore where different foods come from.
In Year 2 the children will continue to develop upon the skills learnt in year 1 and will start to use tools to cut and join using glue, staples, tape and sewing. The children will model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, and mock-ups and will start to use ICT. They will continue to use wheels, axles, levers and sliders and will evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria. They will explore how to make structures they build stronger, stiffer and more stable. The children will plan what to do next, based on their experiences of working with materials and components and will describe the similarities and differences between their own and others’ work. In Food Technology, the children will recognise the importance of a variety of food in our diet and will have the opportunity to prepare, chop and peel and range of ingredients.
Children will plan tools and materials for a task and explain why they are best. The children will be encouraged to use a range of methods to find solutions to design problems and use a range of tools for accuracy. The children will now start to explore gears, pulleys, cams and linkages as well as continue to look at wheels, axles and sliders; beginning to use a glue gun 1:1 with an adult to join different materials. The children will make detailed and realistic plans that are labelled and meet a range of needs to fit a selected purpose. The plans will also include the different processes required and the equipment and materials needed. The children will evaluate existing products and explore their purpose. The children will start to look at different designers and explore how their products have helped people. The children will incorporate ICT into their planning. The children will research different techniques to help support their product designs.
In Food Technology, the children will continue to explore a balanced diet and will closely follow health and safety rules when cooking and will start to discuss their importance. They will start to look at different food from around the world. Children will measure and weigh ingredients to prepare and cook a range of savoury dishes. The children will learn how different ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.
Design and Technology Progression
Assessments
Teacher assessment is ongoing and forms part of our planning process in all subjects. Pupils’ attainment in all subjects is tracked 3 times per year against teacher assessment frameworks.
SEND Information
Interventions, support, and challenges are constantly revised and adapted to ensure all children are supported in achieving learning. Learning is robustly and continuously monitored and assessed to ensure gaps in learning are addressed. Teachers and support staff offer adaptive teaching to enable access for all, and may provide scaffolds, pre-teaching, and other support and intervention, as outlined in the Kent Mainstream Core Standards. Pupils may also be supported to access learning through the use of Clicker software.