Design & Technology

At St. William’s we aim to foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making whilst exploring attitudes towards the ‘made’ world and how we live and work within it. Design and Technology in our school aims to provide opportunities to learn, develop and apply skills in relation to designing, making and evaluating products for a specific purpose, considering pupil’s own and others’ needs, wants and values. Through Design and Technology, Children develop an understanding of technological processes, products, and their manufacture and their contribution to our society as they are equipped with the knowledge and vocabulary to talk about how things work and select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures. The acquisition of specific technical knowledge and vocabulary ensures that pupils have relevant skills and understanding to prepare them for the rapidly changing modern world.

At St. William’s we want to prepare children to be active participants in tomorrow’s rapidly changing technologies. Through Design and Technology, children also evaluate past and present products and reflect on their uses and effect, thinking creatively as autonomous problem solvers and as individuals and members of a team. We aim for children to identify needs, wants and opportunities and respond by designing a range of ideas and making products or systems; combining practical skills with an understanding of aesthetics, social and environmental issues, functions and industrial practices. We aim to develop critical thinking through children having the opportunity to evaluate their own and each other’s work.

In Early Years, children develop the knowledge that they will further draw upon for Design and Technology through the following areas:

• Physical Development

• Expressive Arts and Design

• Understanding the World

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

At St. William’s the teaching of Design and Technology is approached in a structured way within each Key Stage and year group, allowing children to revisit and build upon previous learning in order to ensure progression. Each unit of work has been carefully selected to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum, in addition to providing opportunities for cross-curricular links to reinforce learning and cross-curricular application of skills and knowledge. 

Our children complete three projects per year including structures, mechanisms, electrical systems, textiles and food and nutrition. The delivery of Design and Technology follows the design process: research, design, make and evaluate, underpinned by technical knowledge that the children build upon in their Design and Technology journey throughout school. Children are provided with design and make assignments, focused practical tasks and activities in which they can investigate, disassemble and evaluate simple products in order to create purposeful, functional products across a variety of contexts.

Research

Children explore a variety of existing products linked to their project. They carry out research of the product that they are going to make to inform their design.

Design

Children draw their individual designs and annotate them to provide a detailed overview of the materials that will be used, the tools needed to make their product and the technical skills that will be used to support them in making their product.

Make

Children make their product based upon their design. They utilise the skills they have developed throughout their Design and Technology journey in addition to the new skills introduced in their most recent project.

Evaluate

Children learn how to be critical of their work and that of others through evaluation of the effectiveness of their product and the skills that they have applied.

Technical Knowledge

Children revisit previous skills linked to their specific project and develop these in addition to learning new skills which will support them in making the product that they design.

Technical Vocabulary

Children develop their use of technical vocabulary to support them in talking about the skills they have learned, the design features of their product and the equipment and materials that they have used.

D&T Long Term Plan

D&T Progression Map

The impact and measure of implementation is to ensure children not only acquire the appropriate age related knowledge linked to the curriculum, but also skills and attributes they can use beyond school and into adulthood. Through their learning in Design and Technology, children will develop their skills of perseverance, resilience, communication and problem-solving in addition to subject specific technical knowledge which they can use both now and in the future. Through following the design, make and evaluate cycle, children learn in a way that is both purposeful and rewarding whilst nurturing creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring the designed and made world in which we all live and work.

We assess the impact of our curriculum by high quality teacher assessment, book looks and pupil voice to assess the retention and recall of knowledge.

D&T Policy

D&T National Curriculum

There are lots of activities to support Design and Technology at home. Take time to discuss your child’s learning in Design and Technology and if time allows, allow your child to practice the technical skills that they have been learning in school. An example of this may be by letting them help prepare meals by peeling and chopping vegetables or even by allowing them an opportunity to sew etc. 

www.data.org.uk – DT Information

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ks1-design-and-technology/zfycmfr – KS1 Bitesize DT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ks2-design-and-technology/zvb8hbk - KS2 Bitesize DT

www.purplemash.com

www.howstuffworks.com

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/kids-cooking-recipes

https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/category/get-kids-cooking/

www.exploratorium.edu/explore

www.lego.com/en-gb/letsbuildtogether

www.tinkercad.com