St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

INTENT

Design and Technology provides exciting opportunities for children to solve problems and work creatively whilst designing, making and evaluating innovative solutions and products. The subject provides a purposeful context for learning specific knowledge about design and build projects. It also encourages resilience, resourcefulness, curiosity, innovation and aspiration, as they go through the design and build process.

Children will develop the ability to consider the user's needs and values (e.g. aesthetic, environmental, technical) whilst creating their design. Whilst engaged in the Design Technology curriculum, children will acquire a knowledge of the designing, making and evaluating process, working with a range of tools and materials. They will also develop the habits of a designer, learning to improve their skills and ability to self-evaluate and improve. Learning in Design and Technology will link to other subjects including Mathematics, Art and Design, IPC and Science.

Outcomes

(from the National Curriculum Design and Technology Programme of Study)

By the time the children leave our school, we want them to be able to have:

• Developed the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
• Built and applied a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
• Critiqued, evaluated and tested their ideas and products and the work of others
• Understood and applied the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

IMPLEMENTATION

Design and Technology will primarily be taught through learning experiences that will:

• Be framed by enquiry questions to develop curiosity and innovation
• Develop a love and curiosity of design and technology through rich and engaging experiences
• Use and develop clear design criteria
• Investigate, analyse, evaluate and explore a range of existing products
• Incorporate a range of stages of design including talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups, annotated sketches, exploded and cross-sectional diagrams.
• Use a range of tools, equipment and materials to build structures purpose, which increase in complexity
• Develop technical knowledge
• Build in the use of a range of forms of research

IMPACT

Becoming a designer and mastering technology:

Our pupils will develop the underpinning knowledge and skills which will enable them to acquire, use and communicate their understanding of design and technology

a) Design

Pupils will learn the principles of effective design: setting objectives, gathering ideas and developing concepts in order to develop plans or specifications for a particular outcome. This will include use of appropriate technologies.

b) Make

Pupils will learn how to use a variety of materials and tools and will have the opportunity to use these to complete practical tasks.

c) Evaluate

Pupils will learn the how to evaluate products effectively (both their own and existing products), identifying strengths and weaknesses and reflecting on what elements could be changed to improve the outcome and what they would do differently.

Design and Technology subject specific knowledge:

a) Acquiring technical knowledge

Over time, the children will acquire knowledge of increasingly complex structures, mechanisms and electrical systems.

b) Knowledge about the principles of nutrition, and how to cook

Children will develop their understanding of healthy eating and nutrition and will learn to design, prepare and cook recipes.