Our Design & Technology Curriculum
Statement of Intent
Our Design and Technology Curriculum at St Joseph’s intends to develop children’s academic and practical skills by encouraging them to solve problems based on initial exploration of designers and their products, leading to solving problems based on real life contexts. Design and Technology gives all children the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned through their practical exploration and then to use this knowledge to design and make their own product. It aims to encourage children to take risks, to develop new innovative designs and to be reflective learners by giving them opportunities to evaluate their own work, as well as the design and work of others within school and the wider world. Children are given time to test their own products and make adjustments which enable them to change their designs and improve their end product. By looking at the work of others and giving praise to celebrate success, and words of advice when products need further work, enable children to become evaluative learners.
Statement of Implementation
Our Design and technology curriculum allows children to solve problems using their creativity and imagination to design and make products. The curriculum draws on other subjects, including maths, science, computing and art. The design and technology curriculum aims to teach children to take resourceful, innovative and enterprising risks and learn from these through the evaluation of their own and others’ designs.
When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:
KS1 Design
- design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on a design criteria.
- generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology.
KS2 Design
- use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular 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;
KS1 Make
- select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks;
- select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics;
KS2 Make
- select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks;
- 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;
KS1 Evaluate
- explore and evaluate a range of existing products;
- evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria;
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;
KS1 Technical Knowledge
- build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable;
- explore and use mechanisms in their products.
KS2 Technical Knowledge
- apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures;
- understand and use mechanical systems in their products;
- understand and use electrical systems in their products;
- apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.
Statement of Impact
Our Design and Technology curriculum enables and encourages our children to become critical thinkers. They look at existing designs to analyse and assess its
effectiveness and then they consider ways of redesigning and reconstructing it to improve its overall success. Through Design and Technology, our children learn to take risks, become
resourceful, innovative and enterprising individuals. Children learn to be passionate and excited by the designing and making of products including working with, preparing
and tasting food. Learning is assessed through the analysis of the pupil’s ability to evaluate, design, make and improve their own work.