Design Technology
Vision and intent for Design Technology
Our aim at Temple Meadow is to make teaching and learning as enjoyable as we can. To that end, we adopt an Irresistible Learning approach to our curriculum – packaging learning in a way that allows us to create memorable and adaptable learning experiences which include all National Curriculum requirements.
Design and Technology is essentially focused on practical activities that aim to develop children’s ability to investigate, analyse, design, make and evaluate as part of a whole design process. At Temple Meadow we recognise that children are living in a highly developed technological world. Design and Technology provides the children with the opportunity to develop and use a range of skills that will prepare them for a constantly changing society, increasingly dependent on technology.
Design and Technology activities will enable the children to use their creativity, imagination and social interaction skills to design and make their own products, understanding the processes from planning to making, evaluating and refinement. During the teaching of design and technology, a wide range of new skills will be acquired and the knowledge of other subjects, such as Mathematics, Science, Engineering, ICT and Art, will be drawn upon and applied. Children will also develop the life skills and knowledge associated with healthy living, food nutrition and cookery.
Cultural capital considerations for Design Technology
Given our context linked to high levels of deprivation, we are aware of the high need to support development of Temple Meadow pupils’ cultural capital. This is key to their future success in their next stage of eduction and in future life. We plan to ensure that the experiences we provide through our Design Technology curriculum and by connecting learning across subjects, gives them confidence and the capacity to succeed in the future and to support a long term aspiration of all UK pupils achieving in society.
Implementation of Design Technology
We ensure pupils gain a clear understanding of Design Technology skills by ensuring we allow for concrete and hands on learning as a means to develop skills. For example, to become confident in cooking, skills will be practised and built on year-on-year gain a secure understanding of cooking skills.
National Curriculum coverage
We implement all NC expectations for Design Technology. At Temple Meadow we have generated commission based projects to support our DTLI (Design Technology Learning Intentions) for each learning episode.
Design Technology enquiry based questions
We feel that Design Technology is best delivered around a design brief based projects in which pupils are fully engaged. We therefore focus our Design Technology teaching around a project with a real purpose and with each learning episode building towards a final outcome.
Commission based projects ensures:
- develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
- build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
- critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.
Strands and Long Term Plan
We have developed strands that allow pupils to develop knowledge and skills over time as they move through each year group. In Early Years the KUW (Knowledge and Understanding of the World) area of learning includes Design Technology skills. There is a focus of cooking and nutrition, construction including textiles and mechanics including electricals for each year group. Reasearch, design, knowledge of materials and evaluation will run throughout all projects in all year groups.
Design Technology overview (Long Term Plan)
We have a detailed Long Term Plan (LTP) which maps the National Curriculum for Design Technology really clearly. This LTP is the Design Technology Curriculum Folder. A snapshot is shown below.
Teacher view of the importance of Design Technology
Knowledge organisers
Our aim is for quality delivery and clarity of definitions throughout the school, supporting progression of knowledge and skills. Therefore, supporting each commission and for use in each learning episode there are agreed knowledge organisers.
Timetabling
Design and Technology is taught as part of Irresistible Learning with a timetabled slot. Art and Design focus in 3 half-terms across the year.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary has high focus and children are expected to develop a secure understanding of required design technology terms including knowledge of materials. We make smart links to morphology (structure of words) and entymology (the origin of words).
Learning episodes
Our Learning episodes ensure that pupils appreciate that they are 'Designers’ and they are clear regarding the DTLI (Design Technology Learning Intent).
Retrieval practice
Learning episodes cater for knowledge and retrieval and support long term memory retention by retrieval of previous sessions and from sessions over time.
Inclusion
Teachers are always mindful of inclusion and differentiation. Learning must meet the needs of all pupils.
Making connections to other subjects
We make smart links to Maths, English, Science, History and Computing.
Enabling learning environments
Classrooms have an DT Learning Wall.
Assessment
Throughout the teaching of each Design Technology strand, teachers assess against a pupil’s understanding using an online assessment trackers (Learning Ladders). Throughout the academic year, these are updated based on a pupil’s attainment.
This assessment is completed after the lesson has been taught, when the outcomes are being assessed.
Enrichment
To build Cultural Capital to support lifelong success as learners and citizens the curriculum at Temple Meadow must be experiential, hands on and imaginative. We value enrichment to support our values.
Trips and visits
When planning the delivery of the Design Technology curriculum for their year group, teachers are encouraged to look for opportunities where external trips and visitors to school will enrich teaching and learning and provide memorable experiences for all learners. These trips and visits are facilitated by following our school Trips and Educational Visits policy. There is no set quota of the number of Design Technology based trips or visits a year group is to experience in a year; along with all other wider curriculum subjects, trips and visits must support and enrich teaching and learning and are undertaken where there is significant value to leaning experiences.
Outdoor learning
At Temple Meadow, we promote a hands on, experiential and irresistible curriculum and as such,outdoor learning provides the domain and indeed the requirement for many of the National Curriculum objectives to be delivered. Whether it be through undertaking fieldwork, going on an external trip or simply using the locality and school grounds to anchor learning and provide the concrete to the abstract, we promote and seek opportunities where possible to provide outdoor learning experiences. For example food that has been grown by Eco could be a be used in our cooking and nutrient units.
Focus days
Focus days are held when an opportunity presents itself either within school, nationally or globally to explore an issue/achievement/cause or concern. Focus days are determined by the Design Technology lead and are planned in terms of what form they will take, year groups involved, outcomes, display, assessment and stakeholder involvement. A focus day will present an opportunity where other curriculum subjects can lend themselves to facilitating the purpose of the focus, for example Maths Week may use Maths skills to cost the resources for a product being produced Focus days should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people.
Showcase of work
