Curriculum Intent Design and Technology
Curriculum Intent
At St Robert Southwell Primary School, we endeavour to provide our pupils with the creative, technical and practical skills needed to mature in an increasingly technological world. We feel it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design and give pupils an appreciation for the design choices in the world around them. By making and then evaluating their products, children are given the opportunity to identify the positive aspects of their designs and recognise where improvements could have been made to the structure or aesthetics of their final piece. This process gives pupils ownership of their creativity and helps foster a positive attitude towards risk taking and learning from mistakes. We also recognise the value of instilling the principles of nutrition in children from a young age and aim to develop these by delivering high quality teaching of food technology across the school.
Curriculum Implementation
We aim to implement this curriculum by ensuring pupils are given the appropriate resources to develop their projects from a purposeful design to a high quality product for a wide range of users. During the Autumn term, D&T is the foundation subject in focus so children are given the appropriate time to develop and improve their skills in this area. Linked to the National Curriculum, we aim to offer our pupils with the opportunities to design purposeful and appealing products through sketches, templates and where appropriate communication technology. They make their products using a wide range of tools and materials and evaluate their final piece based on their design criteria. Throughout the course, children develop and apply a repertoire of technical knowledge, understanding how to improve their products and explore the use of mechanisms and electrical systems in KS2.
Children also understand and apply the principles of nutrition when they learn how to cook. ‘Big Cook’ is a school wide project that takes place annually. Every child from year 1 to year 6 works collaboratively with their peers to produce a healthy meal. Additionally, a cookery club workshop runs for all year three pupils after school throughout the year, giving them hands-on experience to develop basic cooking skills and gives them an appreciation for food where they are able to take home a new recipe and product at the end of every session.
Our planning for D&T projects are linked closely to our ‘creative curriculum’ topics studied in the Autumn term. Children design purposeful products related to their interests. The progression of skills from year 1 to 6 are also mapped out to ensure there is clear curriculum coverage across all year groups and skills are revisited and built upon as pupils move through the school. Other areas of the curriculum are also applied in the teaching of Design technology, including measuring in maths and computing, particularly in the designing and making stages. Science is used in KS2 where children use electricity to create their products and in nutrition, children write instructions and weigh their ingredients linked directly to English and Maths respectively.
Curriculum Impact
Pupil’s work is celebrated throughout the school and there is a dedicated display in the main hall so products can be viewed by all visitors and pupils in different year groups. Assessments are based on how well final products meet design criteria and progress is monitored through books and displays evaluations of pupils own products and their peers, classroom discussions with teaching staff and parents and pupil voice.