Design and Technology
Design and Technology
Intent
It is our intent that at Shelton Infant School we provide high-quality Design and Technology education which should engage, inspire and challenge our pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to design, make and evaluate a variety of different products with a motivating purpose and against a design criteria. To achieve this, children will be given opportunities to explore, practise and use different methods and tools.
At Shelton Infant School we are committed to developing a clear progression of skills and knowledge as children make their way through school, which will prepare them for Key Stage Two. Their learning will build upon broad, creative and purposeful experiences and they will develop an understanding of how Design and Technology has shaped history, culture, creativity, industry, cuisine and wealth in our country and the wider world. Children will be encouraged to work both individually and collaboratively to produce a variety of different products.
Our pupils will leave Shelton Infant School equipped with the techniques to express their thoughts and opinions, and to create purposeful and successful products of quality.
Implementation
Our whole school progression document and termly knowledge and skills organisers for Design and Technology have been created by teachers working together, using Kapow’s Design and Technology scheme as a framework. Kapow have developed their scheme alongside experts in their field and has been designed to give pupils every opportunity to develop their ability, nurture their talent and interests, express their ideas and thoughts about the world.
With Kapow as a framework, at Shelton Infant School we are able to support our pupils to meet the National Curriculum end of key stage attainment targets.
These documents are used to ensure that the knowledge and skills that teachers want our pupils to know, remember and use are clearly identified and carefully sequenced from Nursery to Year Two. This also ensures continuity and progression of teaching and learning.
Our Design and Technology curriculum is comprised of three strands:
- Generating ideas
- Designing, making and evaluating
- Understanding, meeting and evaluating a design criteria
Our lessons are sequential, allowing pupils to build their skills and knowledge, and apply them to a range of outcomes.
Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity, in a spiral curriculum model. This enables pupils to revise and build upon their previous learning. Four key areas of Design and Technology are represented in each unit of work, throughout Key Stage One and Early Years:
- Structures
- Textiles
- Cooking and Nutrition
- Mechanisms
Creativity and independent outcomes are robustly embedded into all of the units in our Design and Technology curriculum, which supports our pupils in learning how to make their own creative choices and decisions, so that their Design and Technology outcomes are both knowledge and skills-rich but are also unique to the pupils.
EYFS
It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with Design and Technology, enabling them to explore and use a wide range of materials, tools and techniques. The quality and variety of what children see and experience is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through what they design and make. At Shelton Infant School we are committed to providing high-quality and frequent opportunities for our pupils to develop their skills and knowledge in Design and Technology. We encourage a child-led approach to Design and Technology, with every lesson reflecting the ethos of ‘process over outcome’. Lessons have flexible objectives, making them easily adaptable to any topic or theme, and contain teacher prompts, guidance on assessment and key vocabulary. This ensures staff are confident to teach Design and Technology and ensures consistency across EYFS and the rest of the school.
Our pupils are exposed to a range of media and vocabulary, and can therefore grow in confidence as designers and makers. Each unit provides opportunities for pupils to learn new skills, practise their fine motor skills and develop their growing vocabulary with subject-specific language.
Key Stage One
In Key Stage One, pupils will further develop their skills and knowledge, and extend their ever-growing vocabulary during Design and Technology lessons.
Children will learn the importance of having a design criteria when designing, making and evaluating what they have produced. Understanding that the things we design and make must have purpose and be fit for use will be embedded throughout Key Stage One. The children will have opportunities to follow a range of different design processes during each of our units of work.
Impact
Our pupils make good progress over time, relative to their starting points. Throughout their time at Shelton Infant School, pupils develop their knowledge and skills in Design and Technology. Children are given the space to feel and work like real designers and makers.
Teachers regularly assess children’s knowledge and skills using ongoing formative assessment and complete summative assessments at three points during the year.
The subject leader evaluates the impact of the curriculum through lesson observations, professional dialogue with colleagues and pupil voice, which includes scrutiny of the children’s’ work, discussions with pupils and exploring their enjoyment of Design and Technology.
Our children say:-
- I made a lighthouse – it was really tall.
- I like making the Ferris wheel – it took a long time but when it was finished it was really good.
- I designed and made a chair for my teddy bear – we had to make it really strong.
For more information about our Design and Technology Curriculum, please contact hmassey@sheltoni.derby.sch.uk
