“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin
Introduction
Design and technology prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. Creative thinking encourages children to make positive changes to their quality of life. The subject encourages children to become autonomous and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond by developing ideas, and eventually making products and systems. Through the study of design and technology they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as of functions and industrial practices. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impacts. Design and technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators.
Intent
Our DT curriculum intends to develop pupils who are confident and innovative designers, with a wide variety of design skills that they can use across the curriculum and for their own enjoyment.
At St. Michael’s C of E primary, we believe that learning is a change in long term memory. We believe children learn best by having opportunities to revisit previous learning. We teach DT every term to ensure that the children can fully immerse themselves and have opportunities to reflect and build on prior learning and skills.
The knowledge and skills required to excel in this subject are set out in the DT progression document. This document has been created across the federation by the DT subject leads in partnership with the curriculum lead. Each member of teaching staff has access to the document as a supportive tool when planning in order to review previous learning; ensure a coherent curriculum that outlines essential knowledge and skill development; and as an accurate assessment tool.
At St. Michael’s C of E Primary School, we want children to:
- 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
Cultural Capital
Children will learn about a range of areas where designing and creating for a purpose take places, including cooking, sewing and building structures. We link these subjects to real life experiences and famous engineering experts through STEM and communicating ideas and developing prototypes using CAD.
Cultural capital is ‘the essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens, introducing them to the beest that has been thought and said and helping to endender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.’ Ofsted 2019
Implementation
The school uses a variety of teaching and learning styles in design and technology lessons. Our principal aim is to develop children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in design and technology. We ensure that the act of investigating and making something includes exploring and developing ideas, and evaluating and developing work. Teachers ensure that the children apply their knowledge and understanding when developing ideas, planning and making products, and then evaluating them. We do this through a mixture of whole-class teaching and individual or group activities. Within lessons, we give children the opportunity both to work on their own and to collaborate with others, listening to other children’s ideas and treating these with respect. They have the opportunity to use a wide range of materials and resources, including ICT.
Impact
The intended impact of our curriculum is that children build knowledge, make connections between this knowledge and use it to explore and create. The teaching of Design and Technology offers opportunities to support the social development of our children through the way we expect them to work with each other in lessons. Our groupings allow children to work together, and give them the chance to discuss their ideas and feelings about their own work and the work of others. Through their collaborative and cooperative work across a range of activities and experiences in Design and Technology, the children develop respect for the abilities of other children, and a better understanding of themselves. They also develop a respect for the environment, for their own health and safety, and for that of others. They develop their cultural awareness and understanding, and they learn to appreciate the value of differences and similarities. A variety of experiences teaches them to appreciate that all people are equally important, and that the needs of individuals are not the same as the needs of groups. Design and technology contributes to the teaching of personal, social and health education and citizenship. We encourage the children to develop a sense of responsibility in following safe procedures when making things. They also learn about health and healthy diets. Their work encourages them to be responsible and to set targets to meet deadlines, and they also learn, through their understanding of personal hygiene, how to prevent disease from spreading when working with food.
Information and communication technology enhances the teaching of design and technology, wherever appropriate, in all key stages. Children use software to enhance their skills in designing and making things. Children are given the opportunity to use ICT to control mechanisms and to get them to move in different ways, either in a virtual world or via an infrared connection to working models. The children also use ICT to collect information and to present their designs through a range of design and presentation software.
Useful Websites
https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection
