DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

Intent:

At Quinton Primary School, we believe that Design & Technology is important for helping children to prepare for the continuous development of technology in the world. It encourages them to be creative problem-solvers who are inquisitive and innovative.

Our Design and Technology curriculum is inspiring and practically based.  By engaging their creative minds we encourage our children to nurture their resourcefulness and imagination, combined with their practical skills to create a variety of products following a design brief.  By analysing their work and others; the children will develop their evaluation skills.  Design and Technology helps all children to flourish in becoming informed consumers with an understanding of how everyday products are designed and made. Also, it helps them to be enterprising by having a greater awareness of aesthetic, social and environmental issues linked with designing a particular product.

Through our engaging Design and Technology curriculum in KS1 and KS2 we will develop these essential characteristics:

• To design products
• To make products
• To evaluate products
• Technical knowledge and skills

Implementation:

Our Design and Technology curriculum is delivered by our art specialist, Mrs Gibson, who teaches in every class in the school once a week.  A Design and Technology project will be followed for a half term. Over the year the projects will vary to allow the children to develop a range of practical skills and knowledge.  The children will record their visual journey from the research, the design, to the finished product which will be evaluated so that they can see the starting and end point of a product.  Our aim is for the children to become innovative and develop a range of practical skills, also using some cross-curricular skills from maths, science, computing and art to create a product that they can showcase.

KS1 Design & Technology projects will have the following themes:

• Cooking and nutrition
• Textiles
• Mechanisms
• Structures

KS2 Design & Technology projects will have the following themes:

• Cooking and nutrition
• Textiles
• Electrical systems
• Mechanical systems
• Structures

Impact:

As a result of our engaging Design and Technology curriculum the children will progress in a range of practical skills which will develop and make them more confident to work independently.  Pupils will be able to reflect on the projects they have made by looking at the journey of the project from the start point to the end point. The quality of the practical work and the learning from the construction of the project is evident in the end products which are celebrated as a class. Also the evidence from the recorded work - photographs and writing on the different stages of the project.  Whilst the children are working they are questioned about their choices and development of skills to help develop their ideas and creativity. Verbal feedback is given constantly during the lessons to help children progress their skills. Importantly children are given time to reflect and evaluate their designs to help review how they could improve and build upon their skills in the future. The children report that they enjoy design and technology because it is fun to make things and they can analyse how they are improving.