Design and Technology

Intent

At Westhouses Primary School, our Design and Technology scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through our scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements.

Our Primary Design and technology scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the national curriculum and the aims also align with those in the national curriculum.

Implementation

The Design and technology national curriculum outlines the three main stages of the design process: design, make and evaluate. Each stage of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge which encompasses the contextual, historical and technical understanding required for each strand. Cooking and nutrition has a separate section, with a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality.

The National curriculum Organisers the Design and technology attainment targets under five subheadings or strands:

• Design
• Make
• Evaluate
• Technical Knowledge
• Cooking and nutrition*

At Westhouses, the Design and Technology scheme has clear progression of skills and knowledge within these 5 strands across each year group.

As part of the scheme, pupils respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in 5 key areas: Mechanisms, Structures, Textiles, Cooking and Nutrition and Electrical Systems (KS2).

Each of our key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and is taught discretely, however with links to the particular topic being studied. In early years, the design process is recorded in a variety of ways through photographs, drawings and work displayed in the class floor book. In KS1, the children begin to showcase their design process with the use of pictures, drawings, written or verbal reflections evidenced in a whole class journey displayed inside a class D&T floor book. In KS2, the children show a more thorough recording of their design process with the design, make and evaluate stage being clearly evidenced in individual books.

Our scheme is part of a two yearly cycle, and is taught three times a year. It is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity. This allows pupils to revisit and build on prior learning. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Differentiated guidance is clear for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge Organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.

Impact

The impact of our scheme can be monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. As part of each lesson, teachers use questioning and encourage self-reflection so pupils and teachers can assess their learning against the objectives. Furthermore, each unit has a quiz and knowledge catcher which can be used at the start and/or end of the unit.

After the implementation of our Design and technology scheme, pupils should leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society.

 The expected impact of the scheme of work is that children will:

• Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources.
• Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products.
• Build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes, and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients and scenarios.
• Understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipes, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment.
• Have an appreciation for key individuals, inventions, and events in history and of today that impact our world.
• Recognise where our decisions can impact the wider world in terms of community, social and environmental issues.
• Self-evaluate and reflect on learning at different stages and identify areas to improve.
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outline in the National curriculum for Design and Technology.