Design & Technology Curriculum Statement

Intent

The school’s over-arching intention is to map out Design and Technology in line with our key drivers which are: oracy, initiative, futures, opening doors to the world and well-being. The Design and Technology curriculum is ambitious, evolving and designed to give all pupils the knowledge, skills and cultural capital to help them succeed in life. Design and Technology is coherently planned ensures they have progressively covered the knowledge, understanding and skills required in the National Curriculum. Design and Technology aims to inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts. The iterative design process is fundamental and runs throughout the units. This iterative process encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems. As part of the iterative process, time is built in to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this process. Opportunities are provided for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.

Oracy

It is the school’s intent that our children will become more digitally literate in preparation for a rapidly changing world through design, the use of technology and technological advances. Through oracy, the children will be able to use, express themselves and develop ideas through information and communication technology, developing their problem solving skills and use of their own initiative. Oracy is addressed directly through the use of logic which, through analysis, discussion, evaluation and peer collaboration, will help to establish and check facts, and make predictions. Working together stimulates classroom dialogue, articulation of concepts, and development of shared understanding.’

Initiative

Design and Technology is changing how we live and work. The children will develop their problem-solving skills and use of initiative through developing their ideas through the design and evaluation process. By spotting patterns, the children will be able to make predictions, create rules and solve other problems. The children will be able to evaluate, or make judgements, based on different factors, such as design criteria and user needs.  

Futures

As the James Dyson Foundation states, ‘Brimming with creativity, children have a natural curiosity for getting to the bottom of how things work. With a little encouragement and the right resources, children can begin to understand the excitement of creative problem-solving.’ Children today grow up surrounded by technology and most take it for granted. However, they don’t know how it actually works, the design processes behind it and don’t yet grasp how it will shape their future. In our digital world today, nearly all jobs are affected by technology, and tech know-how can be the difference between getting ahead or being left behind. As the children become more digitally literate in preparation for a rapidly changing world, their future opportunities are directly enhanced, through progression from LKS2 to UKS2, transition to secondary school then future employment or study opportunities and as active participants in a digital world. Opportunities are provided for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.

Opening doors to the world

We live in a world in which technology is constantly changing how we live and work. In the digital world of today and tomorrow, most jobs are affected by technology and tech know-how can be the difference between getting ahead or being left behind. The school will open the doors to the world and insights into future opportunities through links with, for instance, GE Aviation and James Dyson Foundation, major employers in and around Gloucestershire. Opportunities are provided for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators. Indeed, in 2016 it was recognised by ‘Engineering UK’ that the UK faces an annual shortfall of 69,000 engineers. Failure to address this could cost the UK economy £27 billion per year from 2022.  

Well-being

The Children’s Society and Young Minds (2018) state that, ‘Social media is a huge part of everyday life for most young people, offering them 24/7 connectivity, creativity and access to endless information… there are many positives to social media, but it also presents new and unique pressures and risks.’ At this school, the computing element of Design and Technology will be taught within the over-arching umbrella of well-being with constant reinforcement of teaching children how to enjoy positive, safe and healthy relationships with the internet, social media and technology in a digital age. With direct links to our Computing curriculum, children will be taught to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly. Our school aims to support and broaden the provision of online safety education, so that it is empowering, builds resilience and effects positive cultural change, developing safe and appropriate long-term behaviours.

Implementation

Design and Technology skills and understanding are built into the carefully planned and reviewed sequence of lessons, following an iterative process. However, this is not to say that this structure should be followed rigidly: it allows for the revision of ideas to become part of good practice and ultimately helps to build a depth to children's understanding. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our lesson plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills, knowledge and challenge. The revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each lesson. This vocabulary is then included in display materials and additional resources to ensure that children are allowed opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge. Adult guides and accurate design and technology subject knowledge are always provided within lessons to allow the teacher and adults working in those lessons to feel confident and supported with the skills and knowledge that they are teaching.

Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of Design and Technology and see how it has helped shaped the ever-evolving technological world they live in.

Impact

We encourage our pupils to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver, and always refer it back to our key drivers, which are: oracy, initiative, futures, opening doors to the world and well-being. Indeed, we want learners to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact Design and Technology has on their learning, development, futures and well-being. With detailed lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations, alongside the impact of using the full range of resources, including display materials, will be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of Design and Technology. The learning environment across the school will be more consistent with design and technology technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners. Whole-school and parental engagement will be improved through the use of design and technology-specific opportunities suggested in lessons and overviews for wider learning. We want to ensure that Design and Technology is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of skills and understanding, now and in the future. Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as success criteria grids, jigsaw targets and KWL grids and summative assessments aimed at targeting next steps in learning.