“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works”.

Steve Jobs

Intent:

What does the Design and Technology curriculum intend to do?

At Crane Park Primary School, we recognise that Design and Technology prepares children to take part in the development of today’s rapidly changing world. This subject encourages children to become independent and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. This creative thinking encourages children to make positive changes to their quality of life. Through the DT curriculum, children are inspired by engineers, designers, chefs and architects, which enables them to create a range of structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems and food products with a real-life purpose.

By the time children reach Year 6, they are confidently performing everyday tasks and applying their knowledge, and an increased level of skills in their learning. They are on the way to becoming risk takers and innovators and will have used a range of tools, resources and materials, including the use of IT, to create effectively constructed and aesthetically pleasing results. This, along with a strong focus on the importance of evaluation, allows children to adapt and improve their work, providing them with not only a sense of achievement but a strong foundation for the next step of their learning and a key skill for life.

Implementation

How is the curriculum implemented?

We follow a broad and balanced Design and Technology curriculum that builds on previous learning and provides both support and challenge for learners. The Kapow Design and Technology scheme covers all aspects of the Design and Technology curriculum. It is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity, which ensures the progression of skills.

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.

Pupils develop their skills in six key areas: Mechanisms, Structures, Textiles, Cooking and Nutrition, Electrical Systems (KS2) and Digital world (KS2).

The Kapow Primary Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required.

Impact

What progress will children make?

Our children enjoy and value Design and Technology and know why they are doing things, not just how. Children understand and appreciate the value of Design and Technology in the context of their personal wellbeing and the creative and cultural industries and their many career opportunities. Progress in Design and Technology is demonstrated through regularly reviewing and scrutinising children’s work to ensure that progression of skills is taking place, observing how they perform in lessons or talking to them about what they know. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which can be used at the start and/ or end of the unit.

The Design and Technology curriculum is contributing to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. This would be seen in them being able to talk confidently about their work, and sharing their work with others. Progress will be shown through outcomes and through the important record of the process leading to them. 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.

If you visited a Design and Technology lesson at Crane Park you would see:

Children enjoying designing, making and evaluating products, and then taking pride in their Design and Technology projects.

Learners discovering new interests and talents, and confidently “having a go” at applying their new skills.

Pupils developing a wider technical vocabulary and talking with increasing confidence about their learning in DT.

Children using a range of maths, science, art and computing knowledge to support their learning and considering how DT learning links to the wider world around them.

Pupil Voice (quotes across both KS1 and KS2)

“I find Design and Technology enjoyable because it teaches me new skills such as sewing and cooking.”

“It’s fun and I love creating models!”

“I like that I don’t have to worry about making mistakes, because it’s my model, so I can try it again and present it in any way I want – it can’t be wrong.”

“I love our books: I enjoy looking at all the projects I have done in the past.”

Cultural capital

Design and Technology teaches young people to ‘think with their hands.’ The ability to use tools and materials to solve problems is vital and is as important in medicine and surgery as in the jeweller’s workshop or the sculptor’s studio. Now more than ever, D&T is a crucial subject for every young person.

Examples of projects taking place at Crane Park to support above: preparing healthy snacks,

eating something we have grown, designing and making a board game, learning how to sew a button on, making an electrical model, visits to the Science Museum and visits to the local park.

Through the DT curriculum, children are inspired by engineers, designers, chefs and architects.

How do the pupils at Crane Park Primary School develop the school values through Design and Technology? 

We have created a set of values that we feel are critical to becoming effective learners. We want to enable our children to be ‘lifelong learners’ by following our lifelong values:

Aspiration - an expectation that pupils are capable of research, discussion, designing, creating and evaluating a range of products for an intended purpose. Our children will leave Crane Park aspired to solve problems creatively and become future innovators.

Respect– through their collaborative and co-operative work across a range of activities and experience 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.

Integrity – we teach our children to take risks, be honest and aspire to a culture where we are here to learn and that mistakes are expected and corrected. We want them to seek truth by considering and critically analysing technical information.

Responsibility - children take responsibility for making good choices, and taking accountability for their actions. They look out for the well-being of others and understand we all have a part to play in making the world a better place. They take responsibly for their own learning, completing tasks and when using resources.

Co-operation – 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 feeling about their own work and the work of others. They can confidently share their thoughts and approaches, instilling within themselves that they are valued members of the class.

Kindness – children take care of our surroundings, objects and things that belong to others, listen to others and their ideas. Consider how people’s lives could be improved through innovative products and using design and technology skills to develop those ideas.