We aim to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation.
Our Intent
Our school vision is at the heart of St Mary’s Design and Technology Curriculum, aspiring for all our children to flourish and to empower our children to let their light shine in all they do. We aim to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. We aim for our children to grow into responsible people who can positively contribute to their school community and beyond, as well as work co-operatively with others developing a continued love for learning. They will build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on their lives and they become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements.
Our Implementation
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 focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes form, diet and seasonality.
The National curriculum organises the Design and technology attainment targets under five subheadings or strands:
- Design
- Make
- Evaluate
- Technical knowledge
- Cooking and nutrition
We have a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these five strands across each year group.
Pupils respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in six key areas:
- Mechanisms
- Structures
- Textiles
- Food
- Electrical systems (KS2) and
- Digital world (KS2)
Each of the key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum. The Kapow scheme is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning.
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. Every lesson can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available, knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.
A Design and technology unit is scheduled each term, alternating with Art and design to create a combined programmed. Each half term a Design Tech is timetabled to allow children a fully immersive experience of the subject.
Our Impact
The impact of Design and technology can be monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities.
Our pupils leave St Mary’s equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society,
The expected impact will be:
- Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources.
- Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products.
- Build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes, CAD, and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients, and scenarios.
- Understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipies, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment.
- Have an appreciation for key individual, inventions, and events in history and of today that have impact our world.
- Recognize where our decisions can impact the wider world in terms of community, social and environmental issues.
- Self-evaluate and reflect on leanring at different stages and identify areas to improve.
- Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Design and technology.
- Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Computing.
Curriculum Information
For further information regarding the Design and Technology Curriculum, please contact the subject lead – Eric Cota on 02073591870 or email school@stmarys.islington.sch.uk
