Design Technology
D&T Narrative
Our Design and Technology curriculum enables our children to develop the design expertise they need in the world that they live in so that they can flourish and reach their potential. Our children are given every opportunity to build their knowledge (factual content) and skills disciplinary knowledge (the action taken within a specific subject to gain knowledge) as they master the skills of how to be successful citizens in our ever-changing world; they are encouraged to develop their design, practical and evaluation skills to help in the world of further education, work and in their future lives.
Our approach to Design and Technology is ambitious and progressive for all learners and aims to develop children’s confidence in their own abilities and independence in their thinking, helping them become successful designers, eager to learn more and build a love for the subject. We aim to offer rich and vibrant opportunities within the curriculum which draw upon meaningful real-life experiences. In addition, through applying Design and Technology in all areas of our curriculum, children will understand the wide application of their skills and the useful role this subject has to play in their overall learning journey.
Design and Technology is designed and taught with an understanding that the working memory is limited and that we can aid learning and the acquisition of the long term memory with regular repeated learning experiences over time.
Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. 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. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation. (National Curriculum 2014)
The Park Design Technology curriculum is made up of five strands: textiles, structures, mechanical & mechanisms, electricity and the principle of nutrition and learning how to cook.
Through the Park Design Technology curriculum, children will be taught the national curriculum objectives thoroughly, ensuring that each year group builds on their learning so there is clear progression. Through this diversity of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They will also work in a range of relevant contexts.
The Concepts in Design are:
- Design
- Make
- Evaluate
- Technical knowledge
Design and Technology skills are revisited and built upon regularly throughout the year as well as year on year to give children an opportunity to embed their learning in their longer term memory. There is a rich mixture of Design and Technology topics every term to provide the children with varied and stimulating Design experiences.
Every child is encouraged to reach their potential through careful adaptive teaching. Supported children are given more opportunity to embed the skills at a basic level, whilst the greater depth children are encouraged to reason and apply secure skills at a more complex level requiring justification and explanation of the skills they are going to use. Within groups there is a fluidity and a level at which the child works and this is determined by their confidence and ability to use the skills needed for that task.
As a junior school, during Lower KS2, the children will draw upon their technological substantive and disciplinary knowledge from the expressive elements of EYFS and their time in their key stage one settings. Using retrieval practice and with reference to the National Curriculum, children will build upon their knowledge of a range of materials to creatively design and make products. The retrieval and revisiting of food, structures, textiles and mechanical mechanisms should continue to develop their ideas, skills and imagination.
Throughout KS2, with reference to the National Curriculum, children will continue to build on and develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of various technical techniques and knowledge. They will improve their mastery of Design technology in all of the outlined areas but also in the introduction of electricity and nutrition within KS2. Horizontal links will be made in planning e.g., select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics in the making of a product progressing onto selecting from and using a wide range of materials and components, including products above but according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities.
Vertical links will be made in planning where knowledge and understanding are built upon from previous design units e.g., in Year One settings, the children should have been introduced to the concept of structure and homes using cardboard boxes. In Year Two, within their settings, the children should have advanced to structures that are stable and for a plethora of real life experiences, and by Year Three, here at Park, we will revisit their understanding before progressing onto marking and making structures for a given purpose that has diagonal links to our geographical unit and requires reinforcement of more complex structures.
Diagonal links will be made in planning, particularly where this is cross-curricular e.g., links to geography e.g., in the Year Five, term four topic of global trade, the children will study our worlds natural resources and sustainability and through this foci, they will be inspired to design and create their own ecological housing or wind turbine.
The Park curriculum and pedagogy will therefore enable children to begin secondary school with a well-developed understanding of how to work collaboratively towards a common goal such as planning and developing projects. They will be able to share ideas, make comparisons, negotiate, and offer each other feedback in order to ensure a high-quality outcome. They will become enthusiastic, motivated independent learners, with a real love of learning.
Key Design Technology vocabulary is specified and explicitly taught as part of the NPAT Design Technology Curriculum. The development of vocabulary progresses throughout the Design Technology curriculum.