Design And Technology

Intent – Our Aims

Our intent is to provide opportunities for children to develop as confident, articulate and well-rounded children who can succeed as individuals and contribute to their community and the wider world.

We aim to:

• Develop imaginative thinking in children and to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making.
• Build on children’s curiosity of the world around them, providing opportunities for experimentation and problem-solving.
• Enable children to talk about how things work, and to draw and model their ideas.
• Enable children to select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures.
• Enable children to evaluate past and present design and technology, and in so doing develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life.
• Enable children to understand how high-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and wellbeing of the nation and the wider world.
• Develop an understanding of technological processes, products, and their manufacture.
• Foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making.

Implementation – How We Will Do This

At Broadfield we will achieve this by:

• Teaching D&T regularly as an enquiry ‘enhancer’ within the Broadfield curriculum. In Key Stages 1 and 2, children will cover a D&T topic for half a term at least three times across each academic year
• D&T learning relates to: Food (Cooking and Nutrition), Structures, Mechanisms, Electrical Systems and Textiles
• D&T is built on the key concepts:

* design *make *evaluate *technical knowledge

• Children have the opportunity to reflect and wonder how technology now controls aspects of the world and they consider the benefits and negatives of this.
• Children produce a wide range of food dishes from various cultures, encouraging them to discuss the historical, cultural and geographical contexts that have created this diversity.
• Children wonder at the contribution of past generations to modern manufacturing techniques, for example the cotton mills of Oldham and their significance to today’s production of fabrics.
• Children disassemble a range of manufactured products and discuss problems concerning the recycling of materials that have fulfilled their use and understanding the impact of this on our planet.
• Children work together in teams.
• Children explore the number and range of countries which produce for markets all over the world today, allowing discussion relating to the moral/ human rights issues often associated with the working conditions involved in the production of goods.
• Children’s prior learning is revisited, developed and extended within and across years. Carefully chosen prerequisite and ‘in unit’ learning tasks enable children to develop and retain knowledge and skills across a range of topics, build on key concepts and make links year by year.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

D & T is taught as part of the Physical Development and the Expressive Arts and Design area of the EYFS curriculum. Through continuous provision, the children have ready access to cutting and joining, junk modelling, creative resources and tools and equipment. They are encouraged to explore how things work and make imaginative and complex ‘small worlds’ with Lego, blocks and construction kits. In the two, three and four-year-olds settings, children use large-muscle movements to develop their gross motor skills. Later, children begin to refine and develop smaller movements so that they can use a range of tools competently, safely and confidently.

By the end of Reception children will have had the opportunity to:

1. Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery                   

2. Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function

3. Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.

Key Stage 1

The curriculum is structured to ensure that each Key Stage meets the statutory National Curriculum (N.C.) objectives for D&T.
D&T is taught over a 2-year cycle as an ‘Enquiry Enhancer’ and as such provides creative and skill-based opportunities to enhance the learning in each of the ‘driver’ topics.

KS1 Design: design purposeful, functional and appealing products based on design criteria; generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology.                  

KS1 Make: make their product using a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks, including cutting, shaping, joining and finishing; select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics.

KS1 Evaluate:  explore and evaluate a range of existing products; evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria.

KS1 Technical knowledge: build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable; explore and use mechanisms – such as levers, sliders, wheels and axles – in their products.

Key Stage 2

The curriculum is structured to ensure that each Key Stage meets the statutory National Curriculum (N.C.) objectives for D&T.

D&T is taught over a 2-year cycle as an ‘Enquiry Enhancer’ and as such provides creative and skill-based opportunities to enhance the learning in each of the ‘driver’ topics.

KS2 Design: use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at individuals or groups; generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.

KS2 Make: select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks – for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing – accurately; select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities.

KS2 Evaluate: investigate and analyse a range of existing products; evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work; understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world.

KS2 Technical knowledge: apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures; understand and use mechanical systems in their products, for example: gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages; understand and use electrical systems in their products, for example: series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors; apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.

Impact

D&T has a positive impact on the children’s learning experience in school. It provides all children with the opportunity to achieve successful outcomes whilst taking part in fun, practical and meaningful projects. It promotes cross-curricular learning as children are motivated to use a range of skills e.g. English, maths and science in a creative context. Importantly, D&T projects also encourage children to work together as part of a team to develop their ideas through collaborative discussion.

Innovation and sustainability

From Early Years to Year 6, there is a strong focus on innovation. When designing and making, pupils need some scope to be original with their thinking. Projects that encourage innovation lead to a range of design ideas and products being developed and are characterised by engaging open-ended starting points for learning.

In EYFS, children are encouraged to think about recycling materials to use in their models. In KS1 and KS2, the issue of sustainability is another key concept that is a part of the D&T process. Pupils are encouraged to discuss whether the product is useful. Is it worth making or is it a waste of resources? They consider the impact on the environment involved in the process of making the product.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)

Design & Technology can play a key role in the development of a curriculum that integrates Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to keep pace with and meet expectations of a technological and global world.