Design & Technology

Intent

Design and Technology gives children the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products.. At Penshurst CE Primary we feel it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring the designed and made world in which we all live and work. The intention of our Design and Technology curriculum is that exceptional teacher instruction inspires our pupils to acquire knowledge as designers and technologists which enables them to skilfully apply their understanding.

Implementation

The CUSP Design and Technology curriculum is organised into blocks with each block covering a particular set of disciplines, including food and nutrition, mechanisms, structures, systems, electrical systems, understanding materials and textiles. Vertical progression in each discipline has been deliberately woven into the fabric of the curriculum so that pupils revisit key disciplines throughout their Primary journey at increasing degrees of challenge and complexity. The CUSP curriculum has been modified to take into account our mixed aged classes and is delivered as a two-year rolling programme.

Aims (from the National Curriculum 2014)

Using the national curriculum for Design and Technology) we aim to ensure that all pupils:

The national curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
• 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
• 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

Impact

In addition to the core knowledge required to be successful within each discipline, the curriculum outlines key aspects of development in the Working as a Designer section. Each module will focus on promoting different aspects of these competencies. This will support teachers in understanding pupils’ progress as designers more broadly, as well as how successfully they are acquiring the taught knowledge and skills.

The best form of assessment in design and technology is at the point of delivery, while pupils are working. This helps us to understand pupils’ development as designers, rather than their ability to produce a prescribed end outcome. By encouraging pupils to articulate their thinking and reflections, we can understand which aspects of design and technology may require additional teaching and reshape teaching to support this.

• 2 Year Rolling Programme
• Skills Progression
• Long Term Plan

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