Rufford Park Primary School

Design and Technology

Design and Technology:

At Rufford Park Primary School, we believe Design and Technology develops children’s skills and knowledge in design, structures, mechanisms, electrical control and a range of materials, including food. It encourages children's creativity and encourages them to think about important issues. Design and Technology helps to teach Maths, English and other compulsory subjects on the curriculum in a fun and exciting manner and helps put these subjects into real life context. D&T gives children the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products. 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.

Intent

We aim to:

• Inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts. The design process is fundamental and runs throughout our planning.
• Create a design process which encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems.
• Provide time to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this.
• Provide opportunities for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.

Implementation

At the end of each unit, teacher assessment will be completed to ensure progression of skills and knowledge have been appropriately covered and that outcomes have been met. Each phase focuses on different themes which link to topics where possible to ensure continued interest in the subject as well as acquiring new knowledge. Design and Technology skills and understanding are built into lessons, following a repetitive design process which allows for the revision of ideas to become part of good practice and ultimately helps to build a depth to children's understanding. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our curriculum helps children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills, knowledge and challenge. Revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each unit of work and children are given opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge as they progress through school. Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and teachers to develop a love of Design and Technology and see how it has helped shaped the ever-evolving technological world they live in.

Impact

The impact of the way we teach Design and Technology will be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of Design and Technology. The learning environment across the school will be more consistent with design and technology technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners. Whole-school and parental engagement will be improved through the use of design and technology-specific home learning tasks where appropriate. We want to ensure that Design and Technology is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of skills and understanding, now and in the future.

Progression Maps