Design and Technology (DT)

Intent

At Keevil Church of England Primary Academy, we strive to make Design Technology an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.

Our curriculum is organised as a progression which facilitates the re-visiting of learning through recurrent themes, such that knowledge and understanding becomes embedded in children’s long term memory.  For details of this see the document below ‘Keevil CofE Academy DT Knowledge and Skills Progression’.

We ensure our DT Curriculum is rooted in the vision and ethos of the school, through ensuring that as well as delivering technical knowledge and skills lessons also develop the Keevil Characteristics:

To achieve good learning, the children, need to communicate well both listening and speaking.

Working in groups is and sharing resources is imperative within DT lessons. Therefore, teamwork and communication skills will be key. Children will also need to be diligent and have good problem-solving skills when creating and making work, and show resilience when evaluating the success of their products.

Implementation

Our DT curriculum enables children to develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.  They 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.  Children also critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products, correcting and improving their work and giving constructive feedback.

DT is delivered through specific units of work using the Kapow scheme, as well as by exploring and developing links and topics that children encounter in their learning of other subjects.  The ‘Keevil CofE Academy DT Curriculum Overview’ below, shows how these are carefully mapped to ensure that the National Curriculum is successfully delivered in a way that builds on prior knowledge and promotes long-term retention of learning.

All teaching in the school follows our Teaching and Learning non-negotiables and expectations to ensure a high standard of provision.

Impact

Through the delivery of our curriculum, children acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on learning from other subjects such as mathematics, science, computing and art to support and supplement this.  They develop an understanding of how to use and apply their knowledge to design and create products that fulfil a specific purpose and brief.  They learn to evaluate their own and others work, which enables them to critically assess outcomes and impact.  The subject inspires children to embrace challenge and problem-solve, as well as develop a sense of curiosity about how design technology can effect progress.  They also learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.