Design and Technology

Children at Hunwick Primary School engage in a good quality Design and Technology education from their entry in Reception until the end of KS2 in Year 6. We believe Design and Technology lessons engage and inspire children to think innovatively and develop creative procedural understanding. Children are encouraged to use their creativity and imagination to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts. We want our children to become independent, creative problem solvers and thinkers as individuals and as part of a team which will help them to deal with tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. Children learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.

Design and Technology in the Early Years

In the Early Years, Design plays a very important role in the children’s development. Children are taught to represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through their art work. They safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques such as scissors, glue, sellotape and string learning to combine different materials to construct a model.

Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for

Design and Technology for KS1 and KS2.

Design and Technology in KS1

The Long Term Plan for Design and Technology is covered in school sees Key Stage 1 being taught on a half termly cycle alongside Art and Design. “Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making.”

When designing and making, children should be taught to:

Design

  • design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
  • generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology

Make

  • select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing]
  • select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics

Evaluate

  • explore and evaluate a range of existing products
  • evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria

Technical knowledge

  • build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable
  • explore and use mechanisms [for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles] in their products

Design and Technology in KS2

The Long Term Plan for Design and Technology is covered in school sees Key Stage 2 being taught on a half termly cycle alongside Art and Design. “Children should be taught to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.”

Children should be taught:

Design

  • use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups
  • generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design

Make

  • select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing], accurately
  • select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities

Evaluate

  • investigate and analyse a range of existing products
  • evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work
  • understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world

Technical knowledge

  • apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures
  • understand and use mechanical systems in their products [for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages]
  • understand and use electrical systems in their products [for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors]
  • apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products 

National curriculum in England: design and technology programmes of study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)