DT

Intent
Children will exercise their creativity through designing and making products that solve real-life and relevant problems.  They learn to develop, plan and communicate their idea, working with a range of tools and materials to make quality products.  Evaluation will be an integral part of the design process and allows children to adapt and improve their product, this is a key skill which they need throughout their life.  

A Charford Designer will:
•    Be prepared for an increasingly technological world
•    Be creative and imaginative.
•    Take risks, become resourceful, innovative and enterprising.
•    Critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products.
•    Understand the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

Implementation
Design Technology (DT) at Charford ensures high standards of teaching and learning. We have devised a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Skills are looked at in more detail ensuring progression across the year and the year groups. The four main aspects of DT are food and nutrition, construction, textiles, and mechanisms. These have been assigned to year groups and the term in which it is to be taught to ensure full National Curriculum coverage. A unit of DT is taught termly and projects are made cross curricular, linking to the current theme. DT is either taught weekly across a half term or it may be blocked and covered across days or over a week.

Children design products with a purpose in mind and an intended user of the products. Food technology is implemented across the school with children developing an understanding of where food comes from, the importance of a varied and healthy diet and how to prepare this. All teaching of DT follows the design, make and evaluate cycle. The design process is rooted in real life and relevant contexts to give meaning to learning. While making, children are given choice and a range of tools to choose freely from. To evaluate, children will consider existing products as well as evaluating their own products against a design criterion. Each of these steps will be rich in technical knowledge and vocabulary. DT is taught to a high standard, where each of the stages should be given equal weight. Evidence of these stages can be found in the children’s theme books. DT is assessed against the objectives set for the lesson following our marking scheme.

DT is an inspiring, rigorous, and practical subject, requiring creativity, resourcefulness, and imagination. Due to its practical nature, it is accessible to all children. Pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts. Pupils will be given the opportunity to design and make in a way that they feel fit. Making mistakes, evaluating, and amending ideas is a key element of the DT process and should be encouraged. Children are supported but encouraged to find their own solutions. Children learn to take risks, be reflective, innovative, enterprising, and resilient. Through the evaluation of past and present technology they can reflect upon the impact of Design Technology on everyday life and the wider world.

Programme of Study and Long-Term Planning

Websites
Primary resources for home learning | STEM
DT home learning resources | Design and technology at-home learning | DT activities for KS1 and KS2 (theschoolrun.com)

Design Tech - Topmarks Search
Design & Technology - Fun Kids - the UK's children's radio station (funkidslive.com)
KS1 Design and Technology - England - BBC Bitesize
KS2 Design and Technology - BBC Teach
HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!
We support and champion design and technology education in schools - D&T Association (data.org.uk)

Free education resources for teaching young people aged 3-16 years about where food comes from, cooking and healthy eating, and teacher training. - Food A Fact Of Life