Design and Technology at Fellgate
Subject Lead: Mr A. Barnes
On this page, you can find information about our design and technology curriculum at Fellgate.
Intent:
At Fellgate Primary School we aim to excite and ignite their interest in design technology and prepare our children to participate in the development of a rapidly changing world. We aim for all children to become confident and skilled in using creativity and imagination to design and make products for a specific need that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts. We believe all our children will learn how to become innovative, resourceful, enterprising and work capably with the knowledge and practical skills to bring about change through their ideas which impact on daily life and the wider world. We want our children to consider their own needs and others’ needs, wants and values. Our children will acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as; mathematics, science, computing and art. The curriculum is well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that builds upon children’s prior knowledge and develops a wide range of skills through designing, planning, making and evaluating.
Aims:
The national curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:
- 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.
- Understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.
Implementation:
At Fellgate the Early Years Foundation Stage follows the Development Matters guidance document which are based on the seven areas of learning and development. The seven areas are; Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, Expressive Arts and Design, Communication and Language, Personal Social and Emotional Development and Physical Development. At Fellgate EYFS follows the Cornerstone Curriculum programme of study and includes the Early Learning Goal. Opportunities for DT occur throughout the EYFS learning environment and allows for children to solve practical problems and real life situations.
In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 we follow the Design and Technology National Curriculum which outlines the four main stages of the design process: design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge. The school follows the Cornerstone Curriculum scheme of work which is implemented and designed for teachers to use projects for specific year groups. These projects are based around a design and technology subject focus of structures, mechanisms, cooking and nutrition, textiles, electronic systems and digital monitoring. Each project follows a well-structured approach to teaching by using the four stages of pedagogy Engage, Develop, Innovate and Express. Teachers also plan based on the needs of the children in their class and other sources may be used to enhance the lessons in order to meet needs of all children. Cornerstone Curriculum projects follows a structure where children are introduced to key concepts and build up knowledge and skills over time, using a more comprehensive range of equipment and building, cutting, joining, finishing and cooking techniques as they progress through schools. Throughout Key Stages 1 and 2 children build up their knowledge and understanding of the iterative design process. They design, make, test and evaluate their products to match specific design criteria to ensure they are fit for purpose. Children are also taught how to work hygienically and safely.
Impact:
The impact of Fellgate primary scheme is frequent, continuous and progressive through both formative and summative assessment opportunities to ensure children have a wide range of skills imbedded to enable them to succeed and be innovative and resourceful members of society. Each lesson in a project provides support for teachers to assess pupils against the skills and knowledge and learning objective. Children will learn about existing technologies, designs and designers and be able further their own work using this knowledge. Children will understand the functional properties of a range of materials and resources. The children will also understand how to use and combine tools safety to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating and manufacturing products. Children will build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes and products to fulfil the needs of the users, clients and scenarios. Children will be able to critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and use these outcomes to refine and improve how they work and what they produce. They will understand and apply the core principles of healthy eating, balanced diets and recipes including key processes, food groups and equipment.
Inclusion and Equal Opportunities:
Our curriculum is fully inclusive and is tailored to the needs of all children to ensure that they can and will succeed in design and technology. DT provides a broad and balanced inclusive education to all children. In DT a combination of teaching methods is taught to ensure all children can access lessons that are delivered.
Subject Mantra:
We use subject mantras to develop our children’s understanding of the subjects they are learning. They also help our children make connections and develop their long term memory.
Here, you can find out about our Design and Technology Policy that will tell you more about the subject and how it is taught, monitored and assessed across the school.
Long Term Plan: