Subject Leader  - Miss Harvey

Link Governor - TBC

Design and Technology Curriculum Documents

Design and Technology Policy

Design and Technology Curriculum Overview

Design and Technology Progression Map

Intent

At The Priory Primary School, we are committed to providing a Design and Technology curriculum that stimulates curiosity, imagination, and creativity. We believe in fostering enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose in our pupils towards what they are learning. Pupils will have the opportunity to think about the target audience for products and what they are used for; consider and select appropriate tools, materials, and techniques for making a product; and explore attitudes towards the world and how we live and work within it. 

Our Design and Technology curriculum will enable our pupils to investigate how things work and communicate ideas through a variety of media. Our teaching will allow children to plan and critically evaluate their own work and that of others, thus developing their vocabulary.

Design and Technology help to prepare children for the ongoing innovations and developments in our world. The subject encourages children to become creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team, and allows children to combine practical skills with a design process that solves real and relevant problems.

Curriculum Drivers

Cultural Heritage:

• Our Design and Technology curriculum aims to inspire our children to be curious about their surroundings, by encouraging them to question, investigate, and explore how the world around them works.
• Through structured lessons and a broad curriculum, we aim to give our children the opportunity to partake in activities that will enrich their experiences and develop their problem-solving abilities, such as cooking and building structures.
• Ultimately, we recognise that our Design and Technology curriculum should provide pupils with the chance to acquire the skills they will need in order to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
• Where possible, we use school trips and internal visitors to enrich children’s understanding of how and why Design and Technology features within the wider world.

Aspirations:

• Our Design and Technology curriculum is planned around the ideology that all of our pupils will be able to engage with DT, and therefore conversations around DT, throughout their lives. 
• We enrich all curriculum areas, including Design and Technology, by introducing our children to different career options linked to subjects, such as architects, carpenters, and chefs. We do this through lessons, in assemblies, and by inviting people within these careers to come and talk to our children.
• We aim to inspire our children to leave primary school with a love of Design and Technology and a desire to study it at secondary school and at University.

Awe and Wonder:

• Pupils should enjoy what they are learning and topics should foster curiosity, giving the opportunity for children to ask meaningful questions.
• High-quality resources are created and used within each topic area to inspire children within Design and Technology.
• Where possible, we form partnerships with external organisations and projects to give our children opportunities to learn outside of the curriculum and learn from specialists.

Experiential learning:

• We firmly believe in the power that meaningful ‘real life experiences’ can have upon children’s retention and enjoyment.
• Within every topic, we focus on the design brief, embedding this within ‘real-life’ scenarios to engage children in the topic.
• Our specialist STEM room is used to deliver Design and Technology lessons, ensuring that children have access to high-quality resources and provisions. 
• Topic planning within Design and Technology includes extensive lists of resources that are shared with teachers in advance of lessons being taught. This ensures that each lesson is sufficiently equipped to give children as many experiences and opportunities to practice their designing skills.
• We believe in giving pupils the freedom to make their own choices about the equipment, materials, and techniques they use for their products, encouraging them to learn from experience by constantly reflecting and evaluating their work.

Language and oracy:

• Vocabulary is an integral part of our Design and Technology curriculum based on the needs of our pupils. Throughout all Key Stages and topics, key vocabulary is chosen and built upon. This forms a key part of the Design and Technology progression maps.
• To support our children with engaging in conversations around design and technology, each exercise book has a ‘talk like a designer’ sheet at the front of books, which gives sentence stems and key vocabulary.
• To further encourage the use of higher-order vocabulary, our curriculum provides an opportunity for rich dialogue through Philosophy for Children (P4C), helping children to articulate their own choices and understanding.
• To support our children with engaging in conversations around Design and Technology, each exercise book has a ‘talk like a designer’ sheet at the front, which gives sentence stems and key vocabulary.
• Storytelling is used to introduce new themes and ideas to help our children retain information and be excited about design and technology. Book lists are shared with parents to encourage wider reading at home.