Design and Technology

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

Year 5 - structures, building bridges

Intent
Design and Technology education involves two important elements - learning about how things work, and learning to design and make functional products for particular purposes and users. At North Tawton Community Primary School, children will use their creativity and imagination to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.
Children acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of materials and components, mechanisms and control systems, structures, existing products, quality and health and safety. The skills learned in D&T also help with learning across the curriculum.
Design and Technology education helps develop children’s skills through collaborative working and problem-solving. They are encouraged to be creative and innovative, and are actively encouraged to think about important issues such as sustainability and enterprise.

Our main objectives in the teaching of Design and Technology are

to develop imaginative thinking in children, and to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making, and to be able to express their own ideas through their work
to enable children to talk about how things work , and to draw and model their ideas;
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 and 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
to increase their critical awareness of the roles and purposes of DT throughout the ages and throughout the world
to foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making things

Implementation
Through a variety of creative and practical activities, we teach the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in the process of designing and making. Pupils' skills and knowledge are developed across five key areas: structures, mechanisms, electrical systems, cooking and nutrition and textiles. Aside from Electrical Systems, which is KS2 only, each of these acts as the focus for a topic within each year group. Key skills and key knowledge for DT have been mapped across the school to ensure progression between year groups.
We aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as mathematics, science, computing, art and the wider curriculum topics.
There are four strands that run through every topic: design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge.
Coordinated whole-school project work and collaborative projects with partner schools will ensure that DT is given high status in the curriculum and the school. The school’s high quality DT curriculum is supported through the availability of a wide range of quality resources.

Impact
When learning DT, Children encounter how to take risks and solve problems, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. The DT curriculum at North Tawton Community Primary School contributes to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. The curriculum engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to design and create their own products.
The school environment also celebrates children’s achievements in Design and Technology, and demonstrates the subject’s high status in the school. Classroom displays reflect the children’s sense of pride in their design and technology work and this is also demonstrated by creative outcomes across the wider curriculum.