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Design and Technology

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. 

Design is knowing which ones to keep.” 

- Scott Adams

At Loscoe Church of England Primary School, the Design and Technology curriculum is designed to give pupils opportunities to develop skills in designing and making food products, textiles products, structures and mechanisms which at times will incorporate using electrical components. This is an ideal springboard for the development of collaborative working and encourages evaluations of the pupils' own ideas and products.

Intent 

We believe that Design Technology helps children to become problem solvers through practical tasks, using creativity and imagination. We wish for children to take every day or familiar objects and investigate how they actually work and who they are really aimed at. 

We will:

  • Teach design and technology as an inspiring and practical subject. 
  • Work with a variety of materials and through the new skills they learn, so children get to design, make and evaluate a range of products. 
  • Provide opportunities for children to work individually or as a team to design and create things in a variety of different ways
  • Enable and inspire children to become innovators
  • Teach a varied and balanced design and technology curriculum, progresses skills and extends knowledge and vocabulary each year
  • Support our children in developing a critical understanding of design and technology and its impact on daily life and the wider world
  • Promote cooking skills and children’s enjoyment of this, whilst educating the importance of a balanced and varied diet
  • Make cross curricular links with design technology to other subjects where this is possible to make the subject relevant and meaningful

Implementation 

Whilst delivering this curriculum, we ensure that technology is progressive throughout the primary school years, providing the pupils with new, more complex challenges as their primary age progresses. We implement our intent through:

  • Using a wide variety of quality resources tools and materials, empowering children to make informed choices on which to use  
  • Staff following the knowledge and skills progression document and whole school overview to plan for the year. Furthermore, take into account the wide variety of abilities; creating equity for each pupil they teach and refer to the Inclusion strategies document for guidance. 
  • Teachers critically evaluate the needs of their class in relation to the skills and progression grids, choosing appropriate influential figures to study and communicating this frequently so that a broad variety of skills can be explored throughout a child’s primary school life rather than repeated.
  • Educational visits and outside visitors planned where possible.
  • DT planned into other elements of the curriculum and enrichment activities to provide further opportunities for children to develop their schools.

Impact 

The Design and Technology curriculum at Loscoe is designed to give pupils opportunities to develop skills in designing and making food products, textiles products, structures and mechanisms which at times will incorporate using electrical components. This is an ideal springboard for the development of collaborative working and will encourage evaluations of the pupils' own ideas and products.

We will know our impact has been effective through:

  • Children’s understanding, knowledge and skills are monitored by class teachers and subject leaders.  This is then used to inform differentiation, challenge and support. 
  • Assessment is used to inform future delivery of these sessions
  • The children’s DT project work will have a clear outcome and purpose, making this relevant, real-life and meaningful to learners
  • Children will be able to work effectively both collaboratively and independently
  • The children exhibit creativity and confidence which can be evident in other areas of the curriculum.

Wider Curriculum

At Loscoe C of E Primary School, we strive to provide our children with many enrichment opportunities that relate to Design Technology. We provide many after school clubs throughout the year, that include Cookery Club, Craft Club, Lego Club and Construction Club. Further to this, we also have a school Eco Club who work on various projects throughout the year that involve upcycling and making things for our school environments. 

We also include our children in lots of Design Technology opportunities that have a purpose, including designing and making backdrops and props for our plays. Additionally, We offer many artistic interventions for the children who are vulnerable, facing challenges in their lives or may just need that time in a smaller group of children. 

Careers

Design technology is an area that is consistently evolving with new initiatives, technologies and programmes available. There are therefore many career opportunities that can blossom from an effective Design Technology Curriculum:

  • Builder
  • Architect
  • Caterer 
  • Nutritionist
  • Dietician
  • Bricklayer
  • Graphic Designer
  • Software Developer
  • Fashion Designer
  • Civil Engineer
  • Chef
  • Electrician
  • Quantity Surveyor
  • Mechanic 

Significant figures coverage

At Loscoe C of E Primary, we follow the Kapow scheme of work, however we adapt this to meet the local needs of our children and enrichment opportunities. We work on a one year cycle in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2,  a two year cycle for Lower and Upper KS2., and a one year cycle for Year 6. The complete lists of designers and significant figures for DT that we will cover can be found in our school’s medium term plans, as these are often related to our topics. We will however cover a wide variety of men and women from different cultures, inspirational figures who are living with different disabilities, alongside covering those that are both alive and dead.

SMSC

In DT, the children often work in a communal, social manner in group projects where discussions on preferences, compromises and sharing ideas are key. Working in groups allows children to learn from each other and to share ideas and feelings, and helps them to develop a respect for the abilities of other children and encourages collaboration. We also promote spiritual development by helping the community with our DT projects. Children also gain a strong sense of achievement through following a design through to a product, and having their ideas heard and valued.

In relation to children’s moral development, we do many upcycling projects and emphasise the importance of reusing materials. Design Technology supports our children’s cultural development work as they study various cultures and civilizations from around the world. This leads to a greater understanding of different ways of life and a respect for cultures that are very different from our own; how they can enrich our own lives. 

British Values

By connecting our British Values through the teaching of DT, we explore issues that affect us all in our lives and this helps inform decisions that will shape our future. An example is the right to have a different opinion and the need to respect the views and opinions of others when discussing different designs and creations.

Protected Characteristics

At Loscoe C of E Primary, we want to give our children an open, respectful and realistic mindset towards the wonderful world we live in and how this relates to design technology. We strive to expose them to a range of significant people from all different backgrounds related to the protected characteristics, and have planned for this in our varied curriculum. We will also look at how Design Technology has evolved to support people who are struggling with a variety of issues and how different products support people with their everyday lives. 

Useful links and websites including things you can do with your child

Places you can go with your child:

Useful links

Knowledge and skills progression

Design and Technology Policy October 2022

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