High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation. – Department for Education.
Intent: Why we teach your child DT and what we teach.
Products of Design and Technology are all around us. From the dresses that we wear to the laptops and computers that we use, they have been carefully designed, made and evaluated. Our aim is to ensure that the children have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the technological processes, products, how they are made and their uses. We want to provide these opportunities so that children can develop a curiosity and interest in the designed and made world whilst also providing for them, opportunities to develop skills and techniques using a range of tools and materials safely.
Implementation: What our DT curriculum looks like and how we teach it.
Our design technology curriculum at Elburton is innovative and ambitious. Using the content from the National Curriculum and the Early Years Framework, we have carefully sequenced our curriculum so children are able to engage meaningfully and develop a rich understanding of the design process, along with a variety of different skills needed to achieve their desired outcome. The areas covered include, mechanisms and mechanical systems, food, electrical systems, textiles and structures.
The skills we teach in each year group are designed to build upon the children’s previous learning. Our learning journey is based upon the following principles; design, make and evaluate, whilst embedding technical knowledge.
Design Technology is taught in 6-lesson units, once a term (Design Technology alternates with Art).
The United Curriculum is sequenced so that meaningful links are made between subjects, and the order of units allows these connections to be made. For example, pupils are taught about Mood Lighting in Design Technology in Summer 2, so that they can review and build upon knowledge of circuits – and consider the what they might need to ensure their mood lighting works effectively – after they have been taught about Electricity during Science in Summer 1.
The implementation of the United Curriculum for Design Technology reflects our broader teaching and learning principles.
For Design Technology in particular, vertical concepts are used within lessons to connect learning. For example, mechanisms used in Moving Pictures; can be revisited and reviewed when engineering a buggy in the Wheels and Axels unit. This adds layers to their understanding throughout the curriculum.
As with every subject, we recognise what makes design technology unique, and as a result make pedagogical choices to ensure teaching is the best it can possibly be. We have captured our pedagogical choice for design technology in our design technology principles which can be seen below.
The careful sequencing of the curriculum – and how concepts are gradually built over time – is the progression model. Formative assessment is prioritised and is focused on whether pupils are keeping up with the curriculum.
This includes:
- Questioning in lessons. Teachers check understanding so they can fill gaps and address misconceptions as required.
- Pupil conferencing with books. Subject leads and SLT talk to pupils about what they have learnt – both substantive and disciplinary knowledge – and how this connects to the vertical concepts that they have been developing in previous years and other subjects.
- Talk about different products around you, the materials they are made from and what they feel like.
- Take your child to the supermarket and look at the different fruits and vegetables. Talk about healthy eating and why it is important.
- Use recycling as an opportunity to create different products.
- Visit The Box. There are a variety of workshops aimed at children aged 8-11 years available to book on to which can be found here https://www.theboxplymouth.com/
- Encourage your child to help you cook at home and talk to them about different cooking processes as you do it.
