Intent

At Rosewood, our wider aim across all subjects is that learning is meaningful, memorable and relevant to the life experiences of our students. We therefore use Kapow Design and Technology scheme of work to fit the wide diversity of our pupils and provide them with learning opportunities we feel is meaningful to them. Through this scheme of work, we aim to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through idea development, creation and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others.

We aim to build an awareness of the impact of design technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design enhancements. Our Design and Technology scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the national curriculum and the aims also align with those in the national curriculum.

Implementation

The Design and technology National curriculum outlines the three main stages of the design process: design, make and evaluate. Each stage of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge which encompasses the contextual, historical, and technical understanding required for each strand. Cooking and nutrition* has a separate section, with a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality.

The National curriculum organises the Design and technology attainment targets under four subheadings: Design, Make, Evaluate, and Technical knowledge. We have taken these subheadings to be our Kapow Primary strands. 

Cooking and nutrition is given a particular focus in the National curriculum and we have made this one of our six key areas that pupils revisit throughout their time in primary school:

● Cooking and nutrition
● Mechanisms/ Mechanical systems
● Structures
● Textiles
● Electrical systems (KS2 only)
● Digital world (KS2 only)

Our Design and Technology curriculum has a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these strands and key areas across each year group.

Our National curriculum overview shows which of our units cover each of the National curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the four strands.  Our Progression of skills shows the skills and knowledge that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage.

Each of the key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum.

The curriculum we deliver is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles.

Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required.

Impact

The impact of our DT curriculum is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Our Design and Technology lessons are evidenced through photographs, pupil voice and a floor book. 

Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which can be used at the start and/ or end of the unit.

After the implementation of our DT curriculum, pupils should leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society. The expected impact of our DT curriculum is that children will:

➔ Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources;
➔ Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products;
➔ Build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes, CAD, and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients, and scenarios;
➔ Understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipes, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment;
➔ Have an appreciation for key individuals, inventions, and events in history and of today that impact our world;
➔ Recognise where our decisions can impact the wider world in terms of community, social and environmental issues;
➔ Self-evaluate and reflect on learning at different stages and identify areas to improve;
➔ Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National Curriculum for Design and Technology;
➔ Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National Curriculum for Computing.