Design Technology
Sampford Peverell C of E Primary School
Intent, Implementation and Impact of our Design Technology Curriculum
Intent:
Our design technology curriculum intends to give our students a full array of knowledge, skills and understanding as set out by the National Curriculum. We want our students to leave our school ready to become the creative problem solvers that thrive in a society that values innovation. Design technology at Sampford Peverell aims to provide students with the opportunities to research, represent, explore, investigate, test and evaluate their products from start to finish. We aim for these opportunities to enhance broader skills, vocabulary and resilience. Please explore our two year rolling programme to see what projects and learning our children undertake.
Implementation
Whilst the DT elements of the EYFS and National Curriculum forms the foundation of our curriculum, we make sure that children learn additional skills, knowledge and understanding and enhance our curriculum as and when necessary. Moreover, we implement the curriculum through projects that complement and link to our wider curriculum, such as history, geography and science:
- In KS1, our children undertake challenging projects like designing bridges that must withstand weight, making puppets to explore textile design and making Stuart houses to explore the danger of the Great Fire of London (yes, they do burn them at the end!).
- In LKS2, the children use the past as an inspiration for making and adapting designs, such as making Anglo-Saxon fastenings, pavilions in an Aztec style and even the concept of pneumatics through a Roman trebuchet.
- In UKS2, our children build on their design technology journey to apply their understanding and original thinking, with projects ranging from making real shelters, Egyptian jewellery and even a feast made with their very own Tudor food.
We like to use our outdoor space to enhance our implementation of our DT curriculum. The whole school has a responsibility to care for the garden, monitoring and overseeing growing projects and using the products in cooking too! Cooking happens at least once a term, with links to special occasions and using our firepit outside where possible. This offers children an opportunity to apply the important health and safety skills required for increasingly challenge DT projects. We embed differing skills at pertinent times of year, as this helps the classes apply skills to ‘hands on’ situations in a purposeful context. Moreover, especially as children enter KS2, our design technology curriculum encourages critical thinking; children may well be asked to solve problems and develop their learning independently. This allows the children to have ownership over their curriculum and lead their own learning. However, collaboration is equally important and children are expected to take part in team learning to support and help one another towards a challenging, yet rewarding goal.
Impact
Our children show clear enjoyment and confidence in design and technology which they then apply to other areas of the curriculum; they are incredibly keen to get involved in hands on tasks, showing enthusiasm and skill that builds with every project. Practical learning produces fantastic conversations and vocabulary, and our children demonstrate this knowledge when using tools or skills in other areas of the curriculum and in opportunities out of school. As designers, children develop the skills and attributes they can use beyond school and into adulthood, which is the ultimate goal of our primary education.