Intent
‘Design is not just what it looks like. Design is how it works.” Steve Jobs
In line with the 2014 National Curriculum for design and technology, our aim is to provide a high-quality design and technology education which equips children to examine their environment, question the world and to think about how and why
things work the way they do. The curriculum we deliver will give the children the ability to operate effectively and creatively in a rapidly changing technological world. Design and technology is an exciting practical subject which allows children to make sense of appliances and processes in their environment.
By the time they leave Durham Gilesgate Primary, children will have gained key knowledge and skills in the main areas of the design and technology curriculum; structures, textiles, food technology, mechanisms, mechanical systems and
electrical systems.
The core of the design and technology curriculum is based around six key principles.
- The user- children have a clear idea of who they are designing and making products for, considering their needs, wants, interests and preferences.
- The purpose- children know what the products they design and make are for. Each product performs a clearly defined task that can be evaluated in use.
- The functionality- children design and make products that function in some way to be successful.
- Design decisions- when designing ang making, children have opportunities to make informed decisions such as selecting materials, components and techniques and deciding what form the products will take, how they will work, what tasks they will perform and who they are for.
- Innovation- when designing and making, children are given scope to be original with their thinking. From their open-ended starting points, projects encourage innovation and lead to a range of design ideas.
- Authenticity- children design and make products that are believable, real and meaningful to themselves.
Design and technology has deep links with mathematics, science, and computing. We want children to know more, remember more and understand more in design and technology so that they leave primary school with a breadth of knowledge and skills.
Implementation
At Durham Gilesgate primary the implementation of the design and technology curriculum ensures a balanced coverage of children designing, making and evaluating products using a broad range of components. In all design and technology projects, the children are taught three different types of activity.
- 1. Investigate and evaluate activities- where children learn from a range of existing products and find out about D&T in the wider world.
- Focused activities- where children are taught specific technical language, designing skills and making skills.
- Design, make and evaluate assignment- where children create functional products with users and purposes in mid.
Design and technology is taught in periods of blocked time on a weekly basis allowing for the development of skills and understanding in depth. It alternated on a half termly basis with Art. Using this approach, ensures the children have experiences of all elements in each year group, but the subject knowledge imparted becomes increasingly specific and in depth, with more complex skills being taught, thus ensuring that learning is built upon. We have also identified subject specific (tier 3)
vocabulary that we will introduce and which children will learn and use in their spoken and written language.
Impact
We expect that the majority of children will achieve at age related standards in design and technology at the end of each year. We recognise that some children may not achieve this standard, but we will expect that they have made good progress from
their starting point. We also recognise that some other children will exceed age related standards and we will have deepened learning for these children. Our approach to the curriculum results in a fun, engaging, and high-quality design and
technology education.
The subject-specific knowledge developed in our design and technology lessons equip pupils with experiences which will benefit them in secondary school, further education and future workplaces. From designing, exploring, creating and evaluating
products, design technology at Durham Gilesgate Primary gives children the building blocks that enable them to pursue a wide range of interests and vocations in the next stage of their lives.