Design and Technology
Mrs Chiriacescu
Design and Technology Intent Statement
Design and Technology is a fundamental part of children’s learning here at Woodlands, where we have high expectations for all children regardless of their background. We are very passionate about providing children with a rich learning experience that allows them to develop their creativity and passion for the subject that will give them the skills to develop in an ever-changing technological world. We strive to ensure all children receive an inclusive and high-quality curriculum that provides them with the skills to be critical thinkers so that our children can make an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the society.
Through the high quality curriculum children learn to:
• Have high aspirations of themselves by learning about other successful people in the
various fields of Design and Technology which inspires them to challenge their own
beliefs and become critical thinkers.
• Challenge and question stereotypes in their daily life and the wider world to enable
them to become responsible global citizens.
• Build on knowledge from a variety of subjects and deepen their understanding of the
importance of the links within Design and Technology.
• Develop innovative and entrepreneurial skills.
• Develop a passion for Design and Technology that builds on resilience, risk taking,
being brave and inspires children to always have the highest expectations of
themselves and others around them.
• Develop the skills of critiquing and evaluating which they can later apply to their own
understanding of themselves and the wider world.
• Our curriculum provides children with endless opportunities where they are given a
wide range of experiences in the form of trips, visitors and experiences.
• Find solace in a subject they enjoy and have a great passion for.
DT Implementation statement
Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject which prepares all young people to live and work in the world where Design and Technology is increasingly important. DT is a fundamental part of the children’s learning and developing here at Woodlands, where we have high expectations for all children regardless of their background. We are very passionate about providing children with a rich learning experience and ensure the unique nature of DT is maintained and valued.
Teaching in a cross curricular approach gives the children the tools, knowledge and information they need to become more effective, more experienced and more efficient in their learning and attainment. Throughout their time at Woodlands they will gain a wide range of relevant skills in planning, designing, making and evaluating through a variety of exciting projects. As part of DT children can develop skills and attributes necessary to succeed in future careers.
DT is a very cross-curricular subject and draws upon subject knowledge and skills within mathematics, science, history, computing and art. Children learn to take risks, be reflective, innovative, enterprising and resilient. Through the logical, creative and practical achievement, children will have the opportunity to apply what they learn in maths and science and the other subjects in their DT lessons, which directly prepares them for a career in DT, which could be in engineering or architecture etc.
DT is one of the most progressive subjects on the national curriculum and as such requires continual development and support, which is readily available from us in the form of a variety of experiences and projects. During the year, as part of the curriculum, the children will take part in a variety of trips, have visitors and workshops in school and complete exploring session which will develop their curiosity. Pupils will experience a sequenced and varied curriculum using a wide range of materials and processes, making cross curricular links whenever possible. They will have access to relevant and varied resources and be able to make independent informed choices.
From Year 1 upwards, the children will engage in three DT units a year, one of which must be a food-based project; a textiles project and a construction project- these carefully chosen topics are taught to ensure there is progression as the children move up the school- they are designed to stretch and challenge our children. This well-structured and planned curriculum will involve the children using a range of DT skills including: exploring, researching, designing, making, improving their technical knowledge/skills (in each of the three topics) and evaluating. When delivering the DT curriculum, teachers aim to expose children to a variety of real-world contexts, by learning about influential designers of past and present, and exploring case studies which show how key designers and key moments in design have impacted upon the world we live in.
