Design & Technology

Technology is best when it brings people together

Intent

Design and Technology (DT) is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, children 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 such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.

Children 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.

High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.

Implementation

Design and Technology is taught in blocks three times a year (one topic each term) with cooking and the Technology projects being taught alongside these throughout the year. This offers a clear and comprehensive scheme of work which goes above and beyond the National Curriculum.

At St. Thomas of Canterbury our curriculum is designed to:

Use key threads that underpin our D&T topics across the whole school curriculum; the subject leader provides staff with a whole school map.
Follow and plan high level plans that are checked by the subject leader which shows the skills progression, objectives and key vocabulary the children need to know.
Use the whole school curriculum knowledge and skills overview to ensure all children have access to key knowledge, language and meanings in order to understand and readily apply to their work in D&T and across the wider curriculum.
Link designers, architectures, chiefs, programmers and craftsman to areas of study and the development of knowledge of their work.
Use questioning throughout each lesson as a way to assess support the creative process.
Regular knowledge checks to support learners’ ability to block learning and increase space in the working memory.
Give a clear and purposeful display that aids children’s prior knowledge and displays key vocabulary and skills.
Critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.

Impact

The Design and Technology curriculum at St. Thomas of Canterbury allows all children:

To develop their God given talents and gain the technical knowledge and skills needed to become confident individuals. Pupils will be able to identify problems, brainstorm solutions, and bring their ideas to life.
To understand and evaluate technical information.
To make informed decisions that impact on their own lives and the lives of those around them.
To develop an increasing awareness of the moral and ethical dilemmas technical discovery can bring.
To become active citizens of the world.
To receive regular oral and written feedback so children are aware of their position on the learning journey, their strengths and targets, which they consider when taking their next steps.
Children will understand the importance of nutrition and healthy eating as well as the enjoyment of cooking.

Enrichment

At St. Thomas of Canterbury we like to ensure that our curriculum offers and has an obvious, deliberate and purposeful meaning to the world, we ensure this by offering many opportunities to use what they are taught in the ‘real’ world. Example of this are;

Each year we work with The James Dyson Foundation which provides the support that budding inventors need, they get hands on experiences with real world problems, allowing them to think differently and it encourages then to find these solutions.
We run competitions throughout the year for children to think up creative solutions to solve common problems.
We run clubs for the children to use the resources available in school to just have the opportunity to experiment and explore - this then leads to accidental discoveries which then they lead their own learning.
Craft Club enables children to learn the valuable skills of knitting and crocheting and also allows like-minded children to spend time together socially whilst learning.