Design and Technology
Subject Leader Introduction
My name is Miss Littleton and I have been leading Design and Technology at Stanton Primary School for nearly two years. I am incredibly proud of our curriculum and the high-quality outcomes achieved by our pupils. At Stanton, we follow a Kapow curriculum, which provides a well-structured and engaging approach to developing key skills in design, creating and evaluation.
At Stanton Primary School, our Design and Technology curriculum is carefully structured through a range of engaging units, including textiles, cooking and nutrition, and mechanisms and structures. Through these experiences, children begin to make meaningful links to real-world applications and are introduced to possible future pathways, such as fashion design, catering and engineering.
Design and Technology equips children with a wide range of important life skills, encouraging them to think creatively, solve problems and work both independently and collaboratively. One of the aspects I enjoy most about teaching D.T is that no two years are ever the same. I love learning alongside the children as they bring their creativity, imagination and ambition to each project, designing and creating unique outcomes that they can be proud of.
My Vision for Design and Technology at Stanton
At Stanton Primary School, we aim for Design and Technology to inspire creativity, curiosity and confidence in every child. We celebrate the full design process, valuing designing, creating and evaluating equally, and taking pride in all outcomes, whether they meet initial expectations or not. Pupils are encouraged to be thoughtful and reflective, learning to consider the needs of a target audience alongside their own ideas. Through this, we support children to develop resilience and confidence, giving them the space to refine, adapt and revisit their designs, knowing that learning often comes from trying again.
Action Plan Priorities
Our current Design and Technology priorities focus on continuing to strengthen and develop provision across the school. We are working to embed oracy within D.T lessons, giving pupils regular opportunities to discuss, explain and evaluate their ideas. Following changes to our cooking facilities, we are ensuring that curriculum coverage and progression remain strong and purposeful. We are also supporting staff to build confidence in delivering practical subjects, while placing a clear focus on ensuring that learning is accessible and inclusive for all pupils, including those with SEND and additional needs.
Statement of Intent
Here at Stanton Community Primary School it is our intent that Design and Technology is taught with purpose and real-life links that could be expanded on in future learning or careers
Our Design and Technology curriculum covers the skills outlined in the national curriculum through broad, challenging and inspiring units of work, sometimes linked topics.
We focus on process over product because we value the thought process behind children’s ideas. This is an idea Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, touched upon in his work, suggesting that children learn about their world through physical interaction. There are different areas within Design & Technology, these are; design, structures, mechanisms, electrical control and a range of materials, including food.
‘It must not be forgotten that the basic law of children’s creativity is that its value lies not in its results, not in the product of creation, but in the process itself. It is not important what children create, but that they do create, that they exercise and implement their creative imagination.’
Our food focused lessons are enhanced by the enabling environment that is our dedicated and well equipped children’s kitchen. We understand how important cooking and nutrition is in terms of life skills and have carefully thought about what we teach our children to cook and why. It is our intent that this is cheap, fresh, seasonal food with a focus on variety, nutritional benefits to our bodies and minds and that it can easily be replicated at home for the whole family.
In addition, the school aims to develop the children’s use and understanding of technical vocabulary associated with this subject. This is so that the children can articulate the skills that they have applied, the equipment that they have used and describe the material/s and features of the product that they have made. This is evident in the Kapow scheme of work we use to structure our sessions.
Our pupils will understand how to be safe and work according to key principles aimed to keep the individual safe. Importantly, they will build resilience when things go wrong and be able to analyse their own work in order to understand how to better themselves. Our intent is that we want our children to be open minded, independent, respectful, resilient, active, creative and forward thinking when designing, making and evaluating.
Design and Technology in Early Years and Foundation Stage
Child-led learning is integral to the Early Years curriculum and we support our children to follow and explore their own interests. This allows for a greater depth of learning and understanding and much higher levels of wellbeing and engagement. Adults model how to use Design Technology to aid children in their pursuits and scaffold learning to enable them to reach a deeper level of understanding. Planning, designing, making and developing skills and knowledge are all fundamental parts of the Kapow scheme, which provides a variety of opportunities in all of these areas as children explore different materials, processes and outcomes.
Our Curriculum
Useful documents
For more information on the school’s teaching and learning in Design and Technology please do not hesitate to get in contact with Mrs Edney, the Design and Technology coordinator, or click on the links below for some informative documents.
Design and Technology at Home
As well as any homework that is sent home their are lots of things that children can do at home both online but also with their family. Look at the attached resources to help you with some ideas.