Design Technology

Our School Vision

At Hunmanby Primary School we believe that Design and Technology is a subject where children’s capability in designing and making is developed through combining their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding. We view Design and Technology as a subject which allows children to apply their knowledge and understanding in a creative way to design and make products.

Intent

Why do we teach this? Why do we teach it in the way we do?

At Hunmanby Primary school we aim to provide all children with a broad and balanced curriculum which prepares them for life beyond primary education. We encourage children to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. During Design and Technology, we teach children the language skills they will need to be effective communicators. We actively encourage our children to be critical thinkers, forward planners and effective problem solvers. We also teach our children to be able to work as capable individuals and as part of a valuable, productive team. Resilience is a key theme running through our DT curriculum, and the children are encouraged to become innovators and risk-takers.

Implementation

What do we teach? What does this look like?

Following the Cornerstones curriculum, the design and technology projects are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s designing, planning, making and evaluating skills. Each project is based around a design and technology subject focus of structures, mechanisms, cooking and nutrition or textiles. The design and technology curriculum’s electronic systems and IT monitoring and control elements are explicitly taught in our science projects to ensure the links between the subjects are highlighted. Where possible, meaningful links to other areas of the curriculum have been made. For example, the cooking and nutrition project Eat the Seasons is taught alongside the geography project Sow, Grow and Farm.

All the projects follow a structure where children are introduced to key concepts and build up knowledge and skills over time, using a more comprehensive range of equipment and building, cutting, joining, finishing and cooking techniques as they progress through school. All projects contain focused, practical tasks in the Develop stage to help children gain the knowledge and skills needed to complete their Innovate tasks independently. Throughout Key Stages 1 and 2, children build up their knowledge and understanding of the iterative design process. They design, make, test and evaluate their products to match specific design criteria and ensure they fit their purpose. Throughout the projects, children are taught to work hygienically and safely.

Impact

At Hunmanby Primary School, our children will have clear enjoyment and confidence in design and technology that they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum. This will enable our children to:

Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.

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 and critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.

Understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

Children will design and make a range of products. A good quality finish will be expected in all design and activities made appropriate to the age and ability of the child.
Children will learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.