‘Leaders take on or construct a curriculum that is ambitious and designed to give all learners, particularly the most disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or high needs, the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life’ EIF 2019

“Design can help to improve our lives in the present. Design thinking can help us chart a path into the future.” — Tim Brown

Intent

At Outwoods Primary School, children receive a design and technology curriculum which allows them to exercise their creativity through designing and making. The children are taught to combine their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding in order to design and make a product. Skills are taught progressively to ensure that all children are able to learn and practice in order to develop as they move through the school. Evaluation is an integral part of the design process and allows children to adapt and improve their product, this is a key skill which they need throughout their life. D&T allows children to apply the knowledge and skills learned in other subjects, particularly Maths, Science and Art. Children’s interests are captured through theme learning, ensuring that links are made in a cross curricular way, giving children motivation and meaning for their learning. Children will learn basic cooking skills.

Implementation

Children will take part in DT with the focus on 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 learning objective.

Cooking and nutrition is also taught and focusses on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality. A progression of cooking skills is carefully planned to allow children to build on their skills and knowledge to become confident with food preparation and cooking.

Impact

Through a variety of hands-on experiences, pupils are equipped with a range of skills to enable them to become an innovative and resourceful member of society. The expected impact 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.