Design Technology

Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.

Robert L. Peters

Intent

At Christ Church, our vision is firmly rooted in our belief that ‘With God, all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26). We encourage our pupils to develop a love of Design and Technology, including Cooking and Nutrition, and to understand its relevance in today’s society. We develop, nurture and celebrate the God-given talents of each child allowing them their own creative journey where they have the opportunity to learn new life skills through exploration, designing, making, and evaluating. Our Christian values are at the heart of this and underpin the teaching of Design and Technology. They are based on our belief that CHRIST is within all of us. These values are what influence our behaviour and our motives, helping us to aspire to become local, national and global citizens. We want our pupils to have no limits to their ambitions and to grow up with aspirations to work in a wide range of professions.

Our ambitious Design and Technology Curriculum has been designed to take account of the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Primary National Curriculum.

The National 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

We nurture our pupils’ talents and widen horizons with progressive knowledge, understanding and skills. They do this through the 4 areas of Designing, Making, and Evaluating and Technical knowledge. We ensure an ambitious curriculum through our enhanced curriculum experiences that give children added opportunities across throughout their time at Christ Church. Examples of this within Design and Technology are specialist visits and visitors and a specialist area within the school, separate to normal classrooms.

We create a firm foundation for individual growth by ensuring pupils have the opportunity to explore their creativity and imagination in a broad array of contexts to create products that are functional, purposeful, innovative and original for the intended user. There are strong links between Design and Technology, Science, Mathematics and Computing which enable pupils to utilise additional knowledge in other subjects and to apply their problem solving and critical thinking skills. During Design and Technology lessons, pupils are able to follow the ‘plan, do, review’ model, enabling them to solve problems and take risks; they are also introduced to new vocabulary relevant to each new project. At Christ Church, threshold topics run between subjects and through the curriculum.

As a school we believe that children need to build upon their prior learning and have enthusiasm for topics whilst embedding procedural knowledge into their long term memory in order to create a firm foundation of knowledge and skills. This pedagogy is built on John Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory being central to developing learning and understanding. In addition to this, we have adopted a whole-school approach of collaborative learning within lessons to further the Sweller approach and to promote inclusion. This is apparent in DT lessons, as well as Carol Dwerck’s Growth Mindset, which empowers children to achieve their best and persevere in the face of challenges. This approach allows children to build resilience and encourages personal growth.

Implementation

Faith is at the foundation of everything we do at Christ Church. The skills that are taught here enable learners to develop skills and understanding which equip learners to make positive choices, widen horizons and create aspirations for life as local, national and global citizens. We implement a Design and Technology curriculum which builds on this and on prior knowledge and skills across phases.

In Design and Technology specifically, Pupil Voice surveys are carried out to ensure that their voices are heard in the shaping and reviewing of the Design and Technology curriculum. As a school community we strive to ensure our pupils’ voices are heard and valued throughout all aspects of school life, including the curriculum.

At Christ Church, Design and Technology is carefully planned, structured and sequenced to ensure progression across units of work and phases. Our threshold topics ensure consistency and a drive to support all of our pupils.

Planning for Design Technology is based on the 2014 National Curriculum and follows a progressive approach. Each learning sequence is carefully planned to ensure the relevant knowledge and skills have been taught. We use the DT Association Projects on a Page to support in the planning and delivery of Design and Technology across KS1 and KS2. Progression documents and explicit vocabulary links are planned to ensure that teaching is sequential with staff ensuring that knowledge and skills are linked throughout the school. The teaching of key vocabulary is a primary feature of Design and Technology and is prominent in the environment.

At Christ Church DT is taught in every year group, in a two hour session every two weeks, in the second half of each term. This is done using a two year rotating planning cycle. Delivering lessons across phases means that all children have the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge across all units delivered. This is in-line with the Sweller approach meaning procedural knowledge can be embedded into long term memory to create a firm foundation of knowledge and skills. DT is taught discretely, making relevant cross-curricular links where relevant and purposeful. These lessons take place in our dedicated DT and Art provision room which provides the children with the space and resources they need to develop their skills and knowledge with increasing independence and confidence.

Each child has a DT book which they may use to research products, develop design ideas and initial sketches, and showcase learned skills, technical knowledge and vocabulary, final design and evaluations. Children are able to design and make quality products using a range of tools, materials and components, make connections with their learning across the curriculum including in Maths, Computing, Science and Art and reflect on and evaluate techniques using subject-specific knowledge.

In Early Years Foundation Stage, DT is taught through links across the curriculum where they are considered to be relevant and meaningful. DT is taught through the children learning about the world around them and expressive arts and design in their learning through various topics and play. Children are encouraged to construct and create purposefully. They learn through first-hand experiences, which involve putting their ideas into practice and are encouraged to develop their natural creativity.

As a school we are committed to ensuring teachers have good subject knowledge and are supported to maintain and improve this knowledge through coaching, training, observing best practice and undertaking relevant research. In doing this we ensure that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver the highest standards of Design and Technology. Staff are supported by the Design and Technology Subject Leader, ensuring clear progression of both skills and knowledge across phases underpinned by a robust assessment system.

Through Design and Technology a diverse range of both local and worldwide role models are explored and celebrated. After school activities enrich and empower learning and there are purposeful opportunities to explore the local and wider environment. We want every child to see themselves as a designer and technologist and never stop being inspired by the impact DT has had and will continue to have on progress across the world. All of our pupils should feel confident to explore the possibilities open to them across this field. To support us in achieving this we are committed to working in partnership with parents as we believe that when home and school work closely together we able to get the best outcomes for our pupils.

Impact

Our approach to teaching DT results in high quality lessons and enthusiasm for the subject throughout school. All children are provided with opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge; as well as, extending those previously taught. The enhanced curriculum experiences which we strive to provide give children added opportunities throughout their time at Christ Church. Staff across school use INSIGHT on a termly basis to assess statements pupils are working towards, secure in or exceeding. At the end of the academic year, each pupil is then be given a level to show their attainment for the year.

Pupil voice is collected throughout the academic year to provide an insight into the ability of our pupils to discuss the knowledge and skills they have been developing in this area of the curriculum; as well as, their enthusiasm for DT. In order to evidence the knowledge and skills developed throughout the DT curriculum, each child has their own DT book, which shows the progression of skills and knowledge across phases. Blippit is also used to showcase practical activities, discussions and extra-curricular activities which take place throughout the DT curriculum. There will be a variety of learning opportunities evident in these recording methods. To evidence skills developed throughout the DT curriculum, pupils understand and utilise subject specific vocabulary. In lessons, pupils demonstrate their ability to combine the knowledge they have developed with the skills they had refined through various projects. By the end of key stage 2, pupils will be able to:

Continue to develop and extend skills;
Understand and apply subject specific vocabulary;
Develop their knowledge of a wide range of key individuals in the area of DT and the impact their work has had on the world;
Understand that there are various careers in DT which they can explore;
Learn through an DT curriculum which focusses on: structures, mechanisms, food, textiles, electrical and mechanical systems.