Intent

Our intention through DT teaching is to provide our children with real life contexts for learning. We aim to give our children the skills to prepare them in an every changing technical world. We develop the children’s skills and knowledge in design, structures, mechanisms, electrical systems and a range of materials including food. Our curriculum encourages children’s creativity and allows them to think about important issues.

Our design and technology curriculum incorporates other subjects including maths and science and important creative and problem solving skills.  The delivery of DT at Alexander Hosea enables the children to develop their research skills, gaining a good knowledge and understanding of design and opportunities to make functional products linked to exciting termly projects. The children are given time to reflect upon and evaluate their own designs and products, along with past and present design technologies.

At Alexander Hosea, we passionately believe it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design, we understand the importance of design and technology for our children and through our curriculum; we can teach them to be designers, innovators and problem solvers.

 

Implementation

At Alexander Hosea the teaching and implementation of the design and technology curriculum is based on the National curriculum. The skills and knowledge statements are included in our detailed curriculum maps, which have been mapped out to plan and teach our children the techniques of designing, making, evaluation and technical knowledge and understanding. The curriculum maps show clear progression in skills, knowledge and techniques in each of these areas along with high quality vocabulary and subject knowledge support and ideas.

We have a well thought out, whole school, yearly overview of the DT curriculum, which allows for progression across the year groups in all areas of DT (textiles, mechanisms, structures, food and electrical systems). Each area is incorporated into termly projects, which are planned and resourced, providing the children with hands on and enriching experiences. The children are introduced to specific designers, chefs, nutritionists and inventors which will increase their cultural capital for the future.

Our Curriculum:

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Our reception class follow the EYFS statutory framework, which sets out the seven areas of learning including Expressive arts and design. It is at this stage that children will begin to develop their imagination and fine motor skills necessary to generate products and enhance their curiosity of what they can build, make and create.

Key Stage One and Two: In Key Stage One (Years 1 & 2) and Key Stage Two (Years 3-6), we follow the National Curriculum.

Long Term Overview for D&T

EYFS
Year 1	Freestanding structures Sliders and levers Templates and joining techniques
Year 2	Preparing fruit and vegetables Wheels and axels
Year 3	Healthy and varied diet Levers and linkages Shell structures using computer-aided design Simple programming and control
Year 4	2D shape to 3D product Pneumatics Shell structures Simple circuits and switches
Year 5	Combining different fabric shapes Frame structures Monitoring and control Pulleys or gears
Year 6	Cams Celebrating culture and seasonality Combining different fabric shapes More complex switches and circuits

 As a school we plan wider art and design experiences, these include

• STEMworks workshop (Year 6 – Electric computer control)
• STEMworks staff training (CPD)
• STEM after school club (Years 5&6)
• Cooking and baking opportunities for schools fairs and cake sales.
• STEM activities at UWE through Children’s university.
• Engagement with community projects, including designers from the local housing developers to create structures in the village.

Staff professional development is supported through staff meetings and guidance from the Subject leader.

Impact

The impact of the Design and technology curriculum is evident in the enthusiastic way the children talk about their DT learning, opportunities and experiences. The children confidently talk about the key learning areas within their class projects, explaining the products they have researched, sharing their designs and examples of skills and techniques in their journals and sketchbooks and proudly showcasing their final products.

The children’s learning journals and sketchbooks, clearly show the progression and learning within each aspect of DT linked to the termly projects.

Staff are confident teaching DT using the curriculum maps, closely following the detailed planning, asking the supplied questions and using the resource ideas.

The children speak very positively about the STEMworks workshops and thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to learn from Design and Technology specialists.