Design and Technology
‘To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.’
Thomas Edison inventor of many things including the electric light bulb.
Curriculum Intent
At Our Lady’s we intend for Design and Technology to be creative and practical. We want to give our children the opportunities to think and solve problems and develop their creativity individually and through working as part of a team. Our aim is to provide opportunities for our children to look at existing products and designs to evaluate their use and effectiveness. We want our children to feel confident to use their imagination to design and make products within a variety of contexts and to be able to evaluate and reflect on their work.
Children across the school will be taught a range of topics including mechanisms, textiles, structures, electrical systems (KS 2) and food technology. Through these varied hands-on, practical experiences we hope that the children will leave Our Lady’s with some Design and Technology skills and knowledge, with the confidence to use their imagination and take risks. We aim to, wherever possible, link our Design and Technology work to other curriculum areas. We hope that Design and Technology at Our Lady’s will not only enrich our children’s lives but prepare them for the future and inspire them to become the innovators, inventors and designers of the future.
Curriculum Implementation
Design and Technology is taught through a variety of creative and practical activities across all age ranges from Early years to Year 6.
In Early Years, we provide opportunities for the children to use a range of materials and media through a combination of child initiated and adult directed tasks. We aim to develop their creativity and fine motor skills to use simple tools and techniques appropriately. We encourage the children to use their imagination, set design challenges and support them to select resources.
In Years 1 to 6, Design and Technology is taught on a half termly basis which alternates with Art. To ensure coverage we use a variety of Plan Bee Design and Technology units alongside the National Curriculum to ensure an imaginative and well-structured progression of knowledge and skills throughout the school.
Curriculum Impact
Our vision is for our children to leave Our Lady’s with a love of Design and Technology. We hope that they will have many memorable experiences whilst developing their creative, design and making skills. We hope that this exposure to Design and Technology throughout their time at Our Lady’s will prepare and enable our children to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.
Assessment of children’s learning is an ongoing monitoring of each child’s knowledge, understanding and skills by the teacher during each unit. The teacher can then provide the necessary support or challenge to meet each child’s needs. We encourage the children to evaluate their work in order to suggest how their products can be improved.
Each unit of work has a series of’ ‘I can’ statements which can be used by class teachers alongside careful observation and questioning of children to help provide a summative assessment of progress within that area of Design and Technology.
The Subject Leader can assess the impact of teaching throughout the school by book monitoring, lesson observations and pupil voice to discuss their learning and understanding.
Please find our Long Term Plan for Design and Technology below: