St Bede's Catholic Primary - Design and Technology

Design and Technology

Design and Technology Curriculum Statement

Intent

Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject where children are encouraged to learn to think and intervene creatively to solve problems, both as individuals and as part of a team.

At St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, we encourage our children to use their creativity and imagination, 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.

We aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. Our children are given opportunities to reflect upon and evaluate past and present design technology, its uses and its effectiveness and they are encouraged to become innovators and risk takers.

In accordance with the 2014 National Curriculum, St Bede’s Catholic Primary School strives 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.

At our school, we intend that children should enjoy and master Design and Technology in order to use it effectively in their own everyday lives, perhaps some may even pursue a career within the subject.

Implementation

At St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, we have recently chosen to teach Design and Technology using the Kapow Primary Scheme of Work. This will ensure we provide a broad and balanced Design and Technology curriculum that builds on previous learning and provides both support and challenge for our children. The Kapow Scheme is a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum. It ensures there is a progression of skills and consistency of approach across the school whilst also ensuring that teachers and children are supported in developing skills and subject knowledge.

Kapow offers full coverage of the KS1 and KS2 Design & Technology curriculum and we have categorised our content into five areas:

Structures
Mechanisms
Electrical Systems (KS2 only)
Cooking and Nutrition
Textiles

There are then four strands that run through each topic:

Design
Make
Evaluate
Technical Knowledge

A range of progressive skills will be taught ensuring that children are aware of health and safety issues related to the tasks undertaken.

Design and Technology lessons will be taught discreetly, in alternate half terms to Art and Design, either as stand -alone regular lessons or within blocks of lessons within the term, ensuring the lesson focus is on the Design and Technology subject knowledge and skills.

Knowledge Organisers present our children with the key learning at the beginning of each unit and help to support them in remembering their learning journeys. Key vocabulary is also included in the Knowledge Organisers for each unit, supporting our children in developing their language of Design and Technology.

Lessons from the Kapow Scheme for Design and Technology incorporate teacher and pupil instructional videos demonstrating a wide range of skills and techniques. This supports all our teachers, no matter what their design technology background, to deliver a high-quality curriculum.

Children’s work and pictures of their work will be stored in a journal or on Seesaw for reference and assessment.

We want to ensure that Design and Technology is embedded in our whole school curriculum and that opportunities for enhancing learning by using design and technology are always taken.

Impact

Our children enjoy and value Design and technology and know why they are doing things, not just how. They will understand and appreciate the value of Design and Technology in the context of the creative and cultural industries and their many career opportunities.

Our children will design and make a range of products throughout their time at St Bede’s Catholic Primary School. A good quality finish will be expected in all products and activities will be made appropriate to the age and ability of the child.

Progress in Design and Technology is demonstrated through regularly reviewing and scrutinising children’s work to ensure that progression of skills is taking place. This can be done through:

Looking at pupils’ work, especially over time as they gain skills and knowledge
Observing how they perform in lessons
Talking to the children about what they know.

Our curriculum will contribute to the children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. This would be seen in them being able to talk confidently about their work, sharing it with others.

Progress will be shown through outcomes and through the important record of the process leading to them, recorded in journals.

Children will be able to work, both individually and as part of a team, to solve problems.