Design and Technology
Intent:
D.T. Skills and Knowledge Progression
DT KS1 and KS2 Long Term Curriculum Plan
At St Michael’s, our Design and Technology scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. Our aim is also to inspire children and young people to create, experience, and participate in great arts and culture.
We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective, resilient learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through using the Kapow scheme of work in the planning and delivering of D.T. at St Michael’s, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to the world with future design advancements.
Through using the Kapow Design and Technology scheme of work, pupils are enabled to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National Curriculum, and the EYFS units provide opportunities for pupils to work towards the Development matters statements and the Early Learning Goals in Reception. We are fully inclusive in all that we do and believe strongly that all children should have full access to the whole curriculum giving everyone equal opportunity to succeed.
Implementation:
Our Design and Technology curriculum covers the three main stages of the design process in each unit taught and these are: design, make and evaluate. Each stage of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge which encompasses the contextual, historical, and technical understanding required for each strand. Cooking and nutrition has a separate section, with a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality. We have developed a clear progression of skills and knowledge for St Michael’s to ensure that learning is built upon, allowing children to know more and remember more as they go through school.
In each unit of work, children respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in six key areas:
- Mechanisms
- Structures
- Textiles
- Food
- Electrical systems (KS2)
- Digital world (KS2)
Each of our key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum.
We use The Kapow Primary scheme to teach D.T. at St Michael’s. It is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with skills increasing in complexity as children develop, allowing them to revisit and build on their previous learning. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles and our adaptive teaching means children’s needs are met throughout each lesson. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary and staff are able to develop a strong subject knowledge through CPD and teacher videos linked to our chosen scheme of work.
At St Michael’s, D.T. is taught in alternate half terms and is timetabled weekly in each of those terms in KS1 and KS2. In EYFS, skills linked to DT are developed through continuous provision and linked to topics and themes throughout the year. As a small school, D.T. is taught to mixed age classes, and where technical knowledge may be the same for each child in a mixed age class if it is the first or only time it is taught in our two-year (KS1) or four-year (KS2) cycles, the technical skills applied to this knowledge will be different and sequential depending on age or stage of the child, building on prior skills acquisition.
Impact
The impact of our D.T. curriculum is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson in our chosen scheme (Kapow Primary) includes guidance to support our teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives and teachers use these to plan next steps and to adapt learning as needed.
Furthermore, each unit in our curriculum includes a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which is used at the start and/ or end of the unit to assess children’s knowledge and skills as they progress.
Following the implementation of our D.T. curriculum, pupils should leave St Michael’s equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society, both within their local communities and in the wider world.
