Kindness    Inclusivity  Community  

“Creativity is nothing, but a mind set free.” –Torrie T. Asai 

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” –Steve Jobs 

We believe that Design Technology promotes children’s creativity and imagination. They are given the chance to solve real life problems in a variety of contexts and will develop creative, technical and practical expertise that is needed to perform everyday tasks. A love of DT will encourage and support pupils in questioning and evaluating how things work and considering ways to improve the world around them. 

 Intent  

• Children become developers, evaluators and can critique and explore their own and existing products  

• Provide opportunities for children to creatively design and/or problem solve through the premise of a real -world issue or product need of a user  

• Children are equipped for the ever- changing technological world with hands on practical learning and curiosity about the world  

• Inspire children passion for DT through designers, innovators and the food industry and understanding how they have improved a part of our lives   

• Know the value of prototypes and the ability to make changes to their designs to ensure their functionality using a range of tools and materials 

Implementation 

Design and Technology is taught weekly once a term and is based on our progression of areas of DT. We start our sessions with an inspire text and then outline our design criteria. Our projects are underpinned by 6 principles of DT: User, Purpose, functionality, Design decisions, innovation and authenticity. Sometimes these principles are focused on discreetly or as a mixture. We use the cycle of design, make and then evaluate. Children are exposed to a variety product to explore in great detail, expanding their knowledge of how they look and work, allowing children to evaluate products against their target market and purpose. Our planned projects begin to be more relatable to everyday life the further up in the school as more skills have been developed. We also include a key person/company within our design stage to highlight the impact a well designed and manufactured product can have.  

 We use a skills-based approach by first identifying the concept of DT to be focused, for example, textiles, mechanical systems and food. We then have overviews which include the knowledge and skills to be covered during the three yearly projects. Within these overviews, vocabulary progression is also mapped, as well as the key inventors, STEM link, design criteria, an inspire text and the resources needed. Children will experience an array of different progressive and linkable skills and techniques over the course of a child’s time at St Peter’s. This ensures that children are constantly building upon previous learning and are able to expand their knowledge and understanding of problem solving, designing and constructing different products.  

Each Key stage (KS1, LKS2 and UKS2) have milestone assessment points to be assessed against at each project through the year and this information is then recorded on insight (termly). Gaps in skills are then identified to feed into future projects. In addition to this, children with a specific SEN project can be adapted or scaffolded in numerous ways such as further scaffolding in the booklets, scribing, adaptive resources for mobility issues or a simplified product.  

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 learn to:  

•  Use different media and materials to express their own ideas
•  Use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about form, function and purpose 
•  Make plans and construct with a purpose in mind using a variety of resources 
•  Develop skills to use simple tools and techniques appropriately, effectively and safely 
•  Select appropriate resources for a product and adapt their work where necessary 
•  Cook and prepare food adhering to good health and hygiene routines 

Impact: How will we know we have achieved our aims  

• Children have gained skills and knowledge to problem solve by creating/designing products safely and using a range of tools and materials   

• Understand the importance of innovation and creativity to overcome real life problems in each of the DT areas  

• Using our assessments, we can ensure that ALL children have made progress in their DT skills   

• Children will be able to discuss key inventions and why they are important  

• Children have a ‘can-do’ attitude towards overcoming a problem and can use a range of skills to fix, create or critique a product.