Intent

At Welford on Avon Primary School, Design and technology prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. Creative thinking encourages children to make positive changes to their quality of life. The subject encourages children to become autonomous and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond by developing ideas and eventually making products and systems. Through the study of design and technology they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industrial practices. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impacts. Design and technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators.

           

 

Aims of Design and Technology at Welford on Avon Primary School:

The aims of design and technology are:

• to develop imaginative thinking in children and to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making;
• to enable children to talk about how things work, and to draw and model their ideas;
• to encourage children to select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures;
• to explore attitudes towards the made world and how we live and work within it;
• to develop an understanding of technological processes, products, and their manufacture, and their contribution to our society;
• to foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making.

     

Implementation

Our curriculum at Welford on Avon Primary School ensures progression in skills.  Each year group covers 3 DT units each year, covering areas such as: structures, mechanisms, food, textiles, control and electrical. The skills of design, make and evaluate are incorporated across each unit. In order to broaden the children’s experiences, visits and visitors are carefully planned to support and inspire the learning. Where possible, the teaching of design and technology is linked to each year group’s theme. However, at times, particular skills and techniques may be taught in isolation.

Early Years Foundation Stage

We encourage the development of skills, knowledge and understanding that help reception and nursery children make sense of their world as an integral part of the school’s work. We relate the development of the children’s knowledge and understanding of the world to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals. These underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five. This learning forms the foundations for later work in design and technology. These early experiences include asking questions about how things work, investigating and using a variety of construction kits, materials, tools and products, developing making skills and handling appropriate tools and construction material safely and with increasing control.

We provide a range of experiences that encourage exploration, observation, problem solving, critical thinking and discussion. These activities, indoors and outdoors, attract the children’s interest and curiosity.

Inclusion

Teachers set high expectations for all pupils. They will use appropriate assessment to set ambitious targets and plan challenging work for all groups, including:

• More able pupils
• Pupils with low prior attainment
• Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds
• Pupils with SEN
• Pupils with English as an additional language (EAL)

Teachers will plan lessons so that pupils with SEN and/or disabilities can study every National Curriculum subject, wherever possible, and ensure that there are no barriers to every pupil achieving.

Teachers will also take account of the needs of pupils whose first language is not English. Lessons will be planned so that teaching opportunities help pupils to develop their English, and to support pupils to take part in all subjects.

Cultural Capital

Links are made to other areas of the curriculum and trips and visits are planned to enhance the curriculum delivery in Design and Technology.  Opportunities are available for pupils to develop their DT skills through extra curricular clubs, such as Cookery, where pupils can take healthy recipe ideas home afterwards to share with families and the K-nex Challenge, where Y5 and Y6 pupils take part in a Warwickshire Challenge.