Design Technology

Design Technology at St George’s

Intent

At St George’s Catholic Primary School, we value the role of Design Technology in creating a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils. We intend to deliver a Design Technology curriculum which results in the acquisition of the knowledge, skills and understanding set out in the National Curriculum. We believe that Design Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject in which pupils are given opportunities to display their creativity and imagination. We aim to provide pupils with opportunities to make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. Design Technology should provide pupils with opportunities to acquire skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products. Here at St George’s Catholic Primary School, we believe that it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design by exploring the designed and made world in which we all live.

Implementation

The Design Technology curriculum at St George’s Primary School has been designed to cover all of the knowledge and skills set out in the National Curriculum. Design Technology is taught termly using the scheme of work ‘Plan Bee’. Class teachers have carefully picked topics that cover the National Curriculum, suit the needs of their class and link to class topics to ensure a well-structured approach to this creative subject. All planning is sequenced thoughtfully to consider the skills and knowledge to build on prior learning and allow for progression.  Design Technology at St George’s is taught as a stand- alone lesson and is allocated time on a weekly basis during each half term it is being taught. At St George’s Primary School, pupils have their own Design Technology book to record plan and design their product, evidence their final product and evaluate their final product and record their learning and achievement. Their products will be displayed in their Design Technology books and around the school on display where possible. At St George’s Primary School, it is our aim to provide equal opportunities. Our aim is for all pupils to participate in Design Technology lessons. Work is differentiated and teachers make informed decisions based on the learning requirements of each individual and extra support is put in place for children with SEN where necessary. Teaching staff will gauge the needs of each pupil through observation and assessment of their learning styles and requirements in order to identify how our curriculum can enhance each pupils’ learning and help them to excel.

Impact

Assessment of Design Technology at St George’s considers all aspects of pupils’ learning and achievement. This includes not only what pupils make, but also how they make it, what skills they acquire, what they know about the tools and materials they use and their knowledge of Design Technology. Teachers assess progress in Design Technology through a variety of means and use different kinds of evidence. They consider the quality of the products that pupils make, the skills they exhibit as they use tools, materials and processes and the knowledge they have acquired. To assess their knowledge, teachers listen to pupils talking about Design Technology. The evidence for assessment occurs in different forms and at different times through the course of a unit of work and so assessment too is spread out over time. These assessments are used over time to build a profile of achievement across all of the objectives. Individual teachers are responsible for monitoring and assessing children’s progress. Individual teachers are expected to provide evidence of progress through pupils’ Design Technology books. Teachers review progress each term and identify and plan for next steps in learning. Children will be assessed against the learning objectives related to the subject aims of the National Curriculum for their Key Stage. Teacher assessments will be recorded using the school’s assessment spreadsheet system each term.

Knowledge Organisers

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