Design Technology

Intent, Implementation and Impact 

Intent:

At the heart of our curriculum lie our school values (respect, responsibility, honesty and pride) and these are reflected in the daily life of school. Topics are informed by the National Curriculum. Our aim is that, through the teaching of Design Technology, our learners: 

• Become innovative and creative thinkers
• Appreciate the product design cycle through ideation, creation and evaluation
• Develop the confidence to take risks through drafting design concepts, modelling and testing
• Reflect by evaluating their work and the work of others
• Are aware of the impact of design and technology on our lives
• Become resourceful, enterprising citizens who have the skills to contribute to future design advancements

Implementation: 

At Goat Lees, we plan our curriculum using the Kapow Primary scheme. The School Curriculum incorporates the National Curriculum but extends beyond this to include the wider opportunities provided at Goat Lees Primary School. 

• The National curriculum organises the Design and technology attainment targets under four subheadings: Design, Make, Evaluate, and Technical knowledge. We use these subheadings to inform our teaching
• The six areas that learners revisit throughout their time in primary school are: Cooking and Nutrition, Mechanisms/Mechanical Systems, Structures, Textiles, Electrical Systems (KS2 only) and Digital World (KS2 only)
• Our progression of skills map shows the skills and knowledge that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage
• Through the scheme, pupils respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in the six key areas
• Each of our key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum. The Kapow Primary scheme is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning
• Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based and inventive tasks
• Lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles
• Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required
• Evidence (such as design plans and photos of finished pieces) are kept in children’s individual portfolios which follow them through their time at primary school

Impact:

By the time the children leave Goat Lees Primary School, they should have developed:

• An understanding of the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources in an increasingly technological world
• An understanding of how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products
• The ability to build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes, CAD, and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients, and scenarios
• The ability to understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipes, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment.
• Self-evaluate and reflect on learning at different stages and identify areas to improve

If you would like to find out more about our areas of study, please click here for the whole school curriculum map for Design Technology.

If you would like to see how our Design Technology lessons are sequenced throughout the school, please click here for our whole school Design Technology curriculum.

 If you would like to see how our Early Years Curriculum links to the DT curriculum in years 1-6, please click here.