Design Technology

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."  Steve Jobs

At Milton St John’s Primary School our intention is to provide a Design and Technology Curriculum which offers our children the opportunity to develop a deeper subject understanding and draws from and contributes to all other areas of the curriculum and is essentially practical. Pupils will learn to work with a variety of materials to create high quality products through combining their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding. They will be taught to use a range of tools safely and explore techniques for problem solving. As they progress they will develop an understanding of technological processes, products and their manufacture. Finally the children will be encouraged to develop a critical awareness of their own and other’s responses to their work as well as responding to designs around them in the man-made world. We aim to foster design and technology as a means of communication. Innovation and sensitivity to personal feelings and attitudes will permeate the school environment to embrace each child's spiritual, moral, social and academic abilities so that they all have the opportunity to SHINE in the love of God.

The designers at Milton St. John’s will…

• Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise need 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 food nutrition and learn how to cook.

Our curriculum drivers underpin all we do and are an essential part of our learning. The drivers help our children to ‘RISE’ up and play a vital role in their community; locally, nationally and globally. They are listed below:

• Respect for the opinions and beliefs of others
• Independence & Resilience
• Spirituality
• Engagement & Curiosity

Intent

At Milton St. John’s, we intend to build a Design Technology curriculum which develops learning and results in the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Children will know more, remember more and understand more. We intend to design a design technology curriculum with appropriate subject knowledge, skills and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum Design Technology Programmes of study, to fulfil the duties of the NC whereby schools must provide a balanced and broadly-based curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and prepares them for the opportunities and responsibilities and experiences for later life.

At our school we intend that children should master design and technology to such an extent that they can go on to have careers within design and make use of technology effectively in their everyday lives. It furthermore enables our children to explore their imagination, generate ideas, acquire skills, apply judgements and rejoice in their learning. To offer opportunities to recognise and be inspired by the awe and wonder of God’s creation through studying the work of designers and consequently use their talents to communicate their appreciation of God’s world.

Our children will be taught Design and Technology following ‘Kapow Primary’ in a way that ensures progression of skills, and follows a sequence to build on previous learning. Our children will gain experience and skills of a wide range of formal elements of Design and Technology in a way that will enhance their learning opportunities, enabling them to use design and technology across a range of subjects to be creative and solve problems, ensuring they make progress.

Implementation

The teaching of Design Technology across the school follows the National Curriculum through planned topics and with support from Kapow and ensures that Design and Technology makes a high-quality contribution to a broad and balanced primary curriculum, helping to raise standards in English and Mathematics. Design and technology is a crucial part of school life and learning and it is for this reason that as a school we are dedicated to the teaching and delivery of a high quality Design and Technology curriculum; through well planned and resourced projects and experiences.

Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject, requiring creativity, resourcefulness, and imagination. Pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts. It is very cross - curricular and draws upon subject knowledge and skills within Mathematics, Science, History, Computing and Art. Children learn to take risks, be reflective, innovative, enterprising and resilient. Through the evaluation of past and present technology they can reflect upon the impact of Design Technology on everyday life and the wider world.

Food technology is implemented across the school with children developing an understanding of where food comes from, the importance of a varied and healthy diet and how to prepare this.

Impact

Assessment of children's learning in Design Technology is an ongoing monitoring of children's understanding, knowledge and skills by the class teacher, throughout lessons, within topics and end of unit quizzes. This assessment is then used to inform differentiation, support and challenge required by the children.

Design Technology evidence and outcome are collated in class floor books and these monitored by the subject leader throughout the year in the form of progression, coverage, monitoring, looking at learning outcomes and pupil interviews to discuss their learning and understanding and establish the impact of the teaching taking place.

Assessment of children's learning in Design Technology is an ongoing monitoring of children's understanding, knowledge and skills by the class teacher, throughout lessons and at the end of units. This assessment is then used to inform differentiation, support and challenge required by the children.

EYFS pupils' progress is tracked throughout Nursery and Reception using the Development Matters guidance, and their attainment at the end of the Reception year is recorded against the statutory Early Learning Goals for Expressive Arts & Design.

Key stage 1

Through a variety 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 should work in a range of relevant contexts, (for example the home and school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider environment).

• explore and use mechanisms, (for example levers, sliders, wheels and axles), in their products.

National Curriculum requirements for food and Nutrition at KS1

As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

Pupils should be taught to:

• use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes 
• understand where food comes from.  

Key stage 2

Within key stage 2 key events and individuals that have influenced the world of Design Technology are teaching focuses that are to be covered. 
The use of computer programmes and applications are also a key focus to be utilised by children in their design of their products.

National Curriculum requirements at Key Stage 2

Through a variety 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 should work in a range of relevant contexts, for example, the home, school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment. 

When designing and making, pupils should be taught to: 

 Design 

• use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups 
• generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design 

 Make 

• select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks, such as cutting, shaping, joining and finishing, accurately 
• select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities 

 Evaluate 

• investigate and analyse a range of existing products 
• evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work 
• understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world 

 Technical knowledge 

• apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures 
• understand and use mechanical systems in their products, (for example as gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages)
• understand and use electrical systems in their products, (for example series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors) 
• to apply their understanding of computing to programme, monitor and control their products.

National Curriculum requirements for food and nutrition at KS2 

As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life. 

Pupils should be taught to: 

• understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet 
• prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques 
• to understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.   

Early Years Foundation Stage

During the EYFS pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities.

Nursery children are supported to:

• Explore different materials freely, in order to develop their ideas about how to use them and what to make.
• Develop their own ideas and then decide which materials to use to express them.
• Join different materials and explore different textures.

Reception children are supported to:

• Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings.
• Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to represent them.
• Create collaboratively sharing ideas, resources and skills.

At the end of their Reception year, children are assessed against the Early Learning Goal for ‘Creating with Materials’ - safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.

Click here to view our Design Technology Progression Map.