St Chad's Catholic Primary School

Design Technology

 

Intent

 

At St Chad’s, the Design and technology Kapow scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through our scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements.

 

Implementation

At St Chad’s, the Design and Technology curriculum is taught following over the course of a half-term block. Design and Technology planning is mapped half termly (see Appendix 1), to allow pupils to learn in depth, allowing easier access to resources. 

The Kapow Primary Design and Technology scheme of work supports pupils to meet the national curriculum end of key stage attainment targets. The Design and technology National curriculum outlines the three main stages of the design process: design, make and evaluate. Each stage of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge which encompasses the contextual, historical, and technical understanding required for each strand. Cooking and nutrition has a separate section, with a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality.

The National curriculum organises the Design and technology attainment targets under five subheadings or strands:

  • Design
  • Make
  • Evaluate
  • Technical knowledge
  • Cooking and nutrition

The Kapow Design and technology scheme that we follow has a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these five strands across each year group to ensure attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage.

During the teaching of the Design and Technology schemes, children respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in six key areas:

  • Mechanisms
  • Structures
  • Textiles
  • Food
  • Electrical systems (KS2)
  • Digital world (KS2)

Each of the key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum. 

Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. 

Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.

To ensure that the delivery of the design and technology curriculum is of the highest quality, each unit of classroom-based lessons includes both teacher and pupil videos created by subject specialists to help demonstrate the techniques being taught. 

Pupils have access to and are able to select from a range of materials and are taught to recognise when the use of certain materials is appropriate as part of the design process. 

 

Impact

At St Chad’s we want children to leave school at the end of KS2 equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society.

The expected impact of following the Design and technology scheme of work at St Chad’s is children will:

  • Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources.
  •  Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products.
  •  Build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes, CAD, and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients, and scenarios.
  •  Understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipes, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment.
  •  Have an appreciation for key individuals, inventions, and events in history and of today that impact our world.
  •  Recognise where our decisions can impact the wider world in terms of community, social and environmental issues.
  •  Self-evaluate and reflect on learning at different stages and identify areas to improve.
  •  Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Design and technology.

 

 Design Technology Overview - Updated Sep 2024

 

↑