Design & Technology

Intent

The Design and Technology curriculum brings learning to life at St Columba’s. We strive to teach Design and Technology that will inspire, excite and enthuseour children. Our Design and Technology curriculum aims to support pupils to develop their technical knowledge and a high level of skills in designing, making and evaluating. We intend to do this through a variety of creative and practical experiences.

We intend our children to acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on skills from other subjects such as mathematics, science, art and computing. Our curriculum is designed to deepen knowledge and develop transferable skills. We intend for children to design and make products that solve real-life and relevant problems within a variety of contexts. Through their evaluation of their own and others’ design.

Implementation

In Design and Technology, we implement an inclusive curriculum that meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum and the Statutory framework for the EYFS. Through a variety of creative, exciting and practical activities, with subject –specific vocabulary, the children are given the opportunity to develop the skills and understanding needed to engage in a process of designing and making. From EYFS through to Y6 pupils explore and use a variety of materials and media through a combination of adult directed and child-initiated activities.

The children have opportunities to learn to: 

• explore different materials freely
• to develop their ideas about how to use them and what to make.
• Develop their own ideas and then decide which materials to use to express them.
• Join different materials and explore different textures.
• Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing
  their ability to represent them.
• Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources
  and skills.

The children are encouraged to be inquisitive about the way a product works. They are given the opportunity to practise, experiment and build on new and prior technical knowledge and skills. Our children design products with a purpose in mind and an intended user for their products. They develop their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches and diagrams for creating their final piece.

Food technology is carried out across the school with children developing an understanding of where food comes from, the importance of a varied and healthy diet and how to prepare a nutritional dish.

The children will:

Design

• Use research and develop design criteria to make products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or group.
• Generate, develop and communicate their ideas effectively through discussion, diagrams, prototypes and computer-aided design.

Make

• Select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practicaltasks (for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing) accurately.
• Select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients.

Evaluate

• Investigate and analyse a range of existing productsEvaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider
  the views of others to improve their work.
• To understand how key events and individuals in Design and Technology have helped shape the world.

The children take part in Young Enterprise events every 2 years. Trips and experiences enhance the DT curriculum.