Miss Andrews

Design and Technology curriculum coordinator

Curriculum Intent

At St Margaret’s Primary School, we intend Design and Technology to be an inspiring, rigorous, creative and practical subject. We aim to provide our children with the opportunity to use their creativity and imagination to design, make and evaluate products which solve real and relevant problems, considering their own and others’ needs. By ensuring their learning has a real life context we hope to provide motivation and meaning to their learning. We aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. The children are also given opportunities to reflect upon and evaluate past and present design technology, its uses and its effectiveness.

Throughout the school, Children will be taught a range of topics including; mechanisms, textiles, food technology, structures, and electrical systems (in Key Stage 2). We aim for children to leave Year 6 with some knowledge and skills of DT which will inspire children to be chefs, engineers, sculptures, carpenters, designers and architects. We believe DT plays an important role in preparing our children with skills for life which will enable them to be creative individuals.

Curriculum Implementation

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, we teach the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing, making and evaluating. We implement the curriculum through giving the children real and relevant problems to solve, making cross curricular links to Maths, Science, Art and Computing, to broaden their understanding. Our curriculum offers a range of exciting units that solve real and relevant problems. Through these units, we also learn and apply a set of technical skills including structures, mechanisms, electrical control, and we use range of materials, including food. The children also draw upon knowledge and skills within Maths, Science, computing and Art. Key skills and key knowledge for D and T have been mapped across the school to ensure progression between year groups.

In Design and Technology, children are taught to:

• Design
• Make
• Evaluate
• Develop, use and apply technical knowledge 

Curriculum Impact

Our vision is for children to have a love of Design Technology and develop their creative, design and making skills. We ensure the children develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks. Our curriculum offers children the opportunity to understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook. Children will design and make a range of products. Children learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.

Baking in year 6

In year 6, they designed, baked, decorated and evaluated cakes with the theme of gardens (linking to their book Tom's Midnight Garden). These cakes are then anonymously entered into a Bake Off competition with the schools' senior leadership team judging the quality of cooking and decorating skills used. This is one of the year groups favourite activities!