Design and Technology

"Design is intelligence made visible".

                                                                            Alina Wheeler

Our children love to design and make different things, whether that is a planned part of the curriculum. We encourage them to be purposeful in their designs and support them to improve their skills in using different materials and tools. We want our children to know about good design, to understand the design process and also to have knowledge of artists and designers.

We want our children to understand that design is a creative problem solving process and that design can be used to help us in everyday life. It is through good responsible design that society is finding solutions to many of the world's problems; we want our children to be the designers of the future.

Intent

Design and Technology aims to inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts. The iterative design process is fundamental and runs throughout our curriculum. This iterative process encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems. As part of the iterative process, time is built in to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this process. Opportunities are provided for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.

Implementation

A progression of skills and knowledge is taught in a cross curricular manner, with projects taking the form of themes through the history, geography and science curriculum. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our curriculum helps children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills, knowledge and challenge.

Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of Design and Technology and see how it has helped shaped the ever-evolving technological world they live in.

Impact

We want to ensure that Design and Technology is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of skills and understanding, now and in the future. Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as success criteria grids, targets and KWL grids aimed at targeting next steps in learning.