Intent

At Newton Leys Primary School and Nursery, we have a good understanding of the diversity of the world and the importance of exposing our children to a wide range of products that can inspire their curiosity and creativity, as well as the thought-processes involved in creating such products. Through a well-planned out curriculum, children take on the role of developer, evaluator and that of a critique, this allows them to explore how products can be developed and adapted for different users and purposes, as well as creating and testing products to give purpose to projects. We aim for children to be inspired by Design and Technology, curious and critical of the products that are currently available and creative and original in designing their own products to share with the world. Through teaching a structure for designing, making and evaluating, utilising Rosenshine’s teaching principles to ensure all children make progress, we aim for all children to be able to be able to access the curriculum and become researchers, inventors and problem solvers. Children will also understand healthy food choices, preparation of different dishes and a love of cooking to enable them to feed themselves and others affordably and well.

Implementation

At Newton Leys we follow a clear and comprehensive scheme of work: ‘Kapow’ this is in line with the National Curriculum. The units build upon prior knowledge learnt in previous year groups so the curriculum can spiral and ensure that children have the underpinning knowledge they require. The Art and D.T. teacher delivers design and technology projects that have a clear structure and purpose. A range of skills are taught to ensure that children are aware of health and safety issues related to the tasks undertaken. Which in turn equips children for the wider world. Lessons will include clear and appropriate cross curricular links to underpin learning in multi areas across the curriculum. This gives the children opportunities to learn life skills and apply skills to ‘hands on’ situations in a purposeful context. Teachers will plan for elements of independent learning. This means that in design technology children may well be asked to solve problems and develop their learning independently. This allows the children to have ownership over their curriculum and lead their own learning in design technology. Collaborative learning: In design and technology children may well be asked to work as part of a team learning to support and help one another towards a challenging, yet rewarding goal.  At Newton Leys Primary School and Nursery, we have access to an art and cooking room, allowing children to undertake creative Design and Technology projects. The children are assessed formatively throughout the units and this feeds into their proceeding lessons. At the start of each lesson, the children undertake a retrieval task which enables the teacher to understand the child’s prior knowledge and also strengthen the schemata (memory) regarding key skills they have been taught.

Design and Technology in the Early Years: Through Expressive Arts children are encouraged to construct and create purposefully selecting tools and techniques needed to shape, assemble and join materials they are using. Children learn through first-hand experiences which involve putting their ideas into practice to develop an awareness and understanding of the possibilities and limitations of different materials. Practitioners encourage children to explore, observe, solve problems, think critically, make decisions and talk about why they have made their decisions as they design and create. Children’s natural creativity is fostered and opportunities for investigation, designing and making are offered daily within our provision, which enables children to learn a great deal about the world around them

Impact

We monitor the impact of our D.T. curriculum on our children through looking at their learning and assessments, learning walks and pupil voice. By the end of Year 6, children will have confidence and enjoyment in design and technology and will be able to apply these skills to other areas of the curriculum. Children will remember more and understand more about design technology, they will be able to demonstrate this knowledge when using tools or skills in other areas of the curriculum and in opportunities out of school. As designers, children will develop skills and attributes they can use beyond school and into adulthood. Children will have an understanding of the cross-curricular elements within the subject and the importance of skills learnt in other areas of the curriculum and how they aid the design and make process, as well as how these techniques and skills will aid them in future life and learning. Progression of skills: As we follow ‘Kapow’ we should expect the children to learn and be able to use certain skills at different ages/stages of their school life.

Due to copyright law, we can't publish the progression map online however, this can be accessed in school.