Design and Technology Curriculum Statement
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
Steve Jobs
| Intent | |||||
| Design and Technology gives children the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products. At Fairhaven Primary it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring the designed and made world in which we all live and work. We intend that our D&T curriculum will provide opportunities to solve real and relevant problems, allowing our pupils to develop essential everyday skills and unlock their potential to be the designers and innovators of the future. The National Curriculum for Design and Technology aims to ensure that all pupils: *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. *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. Although D&T is taught as a discrete subject, there are opportunities to link to other subjects, enabling children to enhance and deepen their understanding. | |||||
| Implementation | |||||
| At Fairhaven Primary we use the planning and implementation materials from the Curriculum with Unity Schools Partnership (CUSP) for Design and Technology for KS1 and KS2. The CUSP Design and Technology curriculum is organised into blocks with each block covering a particular set of disciplines, including food and nutrition, mechanisms, structures, systems, electrical systems, understanding materials and textiles. Vertical progression in each discipline enables pupils to revisit key disciplines at increasing degrees of challenge and complexity. The CUSP curriculum has been modified to take into account our mixed-age classes at Fairhaven Primary and is delivered as a two-year rolling programme. In addition to the core knowledge required to be successful within each discipline, pupils will also learn how to successfully think, work and communicate like a designer. Working as a Designer Design – The art or process of deciding how something will look or work. Make – Create something by combining materials or putting parts together. Evaluate – Form an opinion of the value or quality of something after careful thought. Apply – Use something or make something work in a particular situation. | |||||
| Impact | |||||
| Children will have clear enjoyment and confidence in design and technology that they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum. Children will know more, remember more and understand more about Design Technology. They will develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. At Fairhaven Primary we measure the impact of our Design & Technology curriculum through the following methods: *Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning. *Images and videos of the children’s practical learning. *Discussions with pupils about their learning (pupil’s voice). *Peer assessment (Austin’s Butterfly) *Celebration of work through displays both in school and within the community. *Moderation meetings where pupil’s work is scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers. *Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum. *Governors are kept informed through governor monitoring visits and subject updates during Personal and Curriculum meetings. |
