Design and Technology at Cusgarne
Design and Technology develops children’s skills and knowledge in design, structures, mechanisms, electrical control and a range of materials, including food. It encourages children’s creativity and encourages them to think about important issues, many of which support our curriculum drivers of health and global affairs.
At Cusgarne School, we also believe that design and technology nurtures creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring the designed and made world in which we live and work. links to the other subjects in our curriculum which supports our delivery by making learning fun and puts subjects into a more understandable and meaningful context.
At Cusgarne School we teach Design and Technology according to the following National Curriculum expectations for art and design at EYFS, KS1 and KS2.
EYFS Expectations:
Here are the Early learning goals that link most closely to the Design and Technology curriculum:
Expressive Arts and Design (Exploring and Using Media and Materials)
Children safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.
Expressive Arts and Design (Being Imaginative)
Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role play and stories.
Physical development (Moving and Handling)
Children handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.
End of KS1 Expectations
Design
Pupils should be taught to:
- design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria;
- generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology.
Make
Pupils should be taught to:
- select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing];
- select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics.
Evaluate
Pupils should be taught to:
- explore and evaluate a range of existing products;
- evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria.
Technical Knowledge
Pupils should be taught to:
- build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable;
- explore and use mechanisms [for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles], in their products.
Cooking and Nutrition
Pupils should be taught to:
- use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes;
understand where food comes from.
End of KS2 Expectations
Design
Pupils should be taught to:
- use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups;
- generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.
Make
Pupils should be taught to:
- select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing], accurately;
- select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities.
Evaluate
Pupils should be taught to:
- investigate and analyse a range of existing products;
- evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work;
understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world.
Technical Knowledge
- apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures;
- understand and use mechanical systems in their products [for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages];
- understand and use electrical systems in their products [for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors];
- apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.
Cooking and Nutrition
Pupils should be taught to:
- understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet;
- prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques;
- understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.
Please note, the National Curriculum for KS2 states that children should ‘generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through computer-aided design’. In most units, there will be lessons where children focus on creating designs for their products: so some of these designs will be created using computer-aided design.
Please refer to our curriculum progression map below, which comprehensively shows the progression of art knowledge, skills and concepts for the children from year 1 to year 6.
Intent
At Cusgarne our Design and Technology curriculum is based on Twinkl’s Planit scheme of work and offers a coherently planned sequence of lessons to ensure that the teachers have progressively covered the knowledge, understanding and skills required in the National Curriculum. Our Design and Technology curriculum aims to inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts. The iterative design process is fundamental and runs throughout each mini topic. This iterative process encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems. As part of the iterative process, time is built in to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this process. Opportunities are provided for the children at Cusgarne to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.
Implementation
Design and Technology skills and understanding are built into our lessons, following an iterative process. The teachers, when planning and delivering their DT lessons, are encouraged to revise their teaching and the learning process; which we feel is a vital part of our good practice at Cusgarne as it ultimately helps us to adapt our curriculum to the needs of our children and to build a depth to children's understanding. Where our units of study are adapted the planning is still used to support learning ie. The lesson objectives are followed as closely as possible but a different context may be used. Our Curriculum ensures the through revisiting and consolidating skills, which is also a vital part of good practice, and our lesson plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills, knowledge and challenge. Similarly, the revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each lesson. This vocabulary is then shared with the children, included in display materials and additional resources are also used to ensure that children are allowed opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge. The Twinkl Planit scheme offers adult guides and accurate design and technology subject knowledge to allow the teacher and adults working in those lessons to feel confident and supported with the skills and knowledge that they are teaching.
Through our DT lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of Design and Technology and see how it has helped shaped the ever-evolving technological world they live in.
Impact
The impact of our scheme of work, will be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of Design and Technology. The learning environment across the school will be more consistent with design and technology technical vocabulary shared with the children, spoken and used by all learners. Whole-school and parental engagement will be improved through the use of design and technology-specific home learning tasks and opportunities suggested in lessons and overviews for wider learning. We want to ensure that Design and Technology is loved by our teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of skills and understanding, now and in the future. Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as success criteria grids and summative assessments aimed at targeting next steps in learning.
