Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. It requires creativity and imagination. Pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines across the curriculum, such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.

The curriculum is hung the main areas of Design and Technology: Designing, making, Technical knowledge, evaluation and cooking and nutrition.

Aims

Our curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:

-Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed 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 nutrition and learn how to cook.

Key Stage One

Here, pupils will lay the foundations which will be built upon in Key Stage Two. They shall explore different materials and their properties. They will also take part in seasonal activities, such as a seasonal food unit. Cross curricular links are made with the renewable energy project in Key Stage One, linking with the seaside/ recycling unit in geography. This is also done with electrical systems in Key Stage Two (Science) and the Italian Café (Geography).

Foundations of design, such as knowing who the product is for, how it will work and what other existing products are available, are explored. The development of these ideas can be seen in Key Stage Two.

For example, pupils design and make a healthy, spring themed dish in Key Stage One, investigating how to combine food using sensory characteristics. In Key Stage Two, pupils create an Italian café, progressing these skills and learning from science and maths, weighing and measuring to help design and make food products that are aesthetically pleasing and match the design brief. They will also build on previous learning by considering their target audience further, and conducting in depth market research.

Key Stage Two

The foundations acquired in Key Stage One are built upon in Key Stage Two. Pupils take on more complex units of work, designing, making and evaluating in more detail.

With food, pupils will go from having a basic understanding of where food comes from, and the Eatwell Plate, to having a thorough understanding of how food is grown and reared and how seasonal changes affect this.

Pupils move into using computer aided design, using annotated cross-sectional drawings to develop and communicate ideas. They shall also have to make design decisions which consider the availability of resources. This has progressed from having a basic knowledge of design and manufacturing products in Key Stage One, where pupils must know who the product is for; themselves or other users and describe what their products are for and how their products will work.