Design and Technology
Intent
At Vine Tree Primary School, we aim for all children to think innovatively, to question and explore the practical world around them and to develop a positive and passionate approach to their learning. We encourage children to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. During Design and Technology, we teach children the language skills they will need to be effective communicators. We actively encourage our children to be critical thinkers, forward planners and effective problem solvers. We also teach our children to be able to work as capable individuals and as part of a valuable, productive team. Resilience is a key theme running through our DT curriculum, and the children are encouraged to become innovators and risk takers.
Implementation
Our curriculum enables pupils to take part in a wide range of practical activities directly concerned with:
- identifying needs
- generating ideas
- planning and designing
- making and testing
- evaluating and reflecting
We offer a well sequenced and progressive curriculum map, containing the key concepts children need to be procedurally fluent in, to work and think like professional design technologists.
Our children learn to produce practical solutions to real problems. Children develop technical understanding and making skills, learn about design methods and investigate their environment and the materials around them.
We use a variety of teaching and learning styles in design technology lessons. The principal aim is to develop children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in design and technology. Teachers encourage children to use their knowledge and understanding when developing ideas, planning and making products and evaluating them.
Children are encouraged to listen to the ideas of others, and treat them with respect, to critically evaluate existing products, both their own work and those of others. They have the opportunity to use a wide range of materials and resources, including ICT.
Impact
The monitoring of the standards of children's work and of the quality of teaching in Design and Technology is the responsibility of the Design and Technology subject leader. In each class, samples of work are photographed or collected to build a portfolio of work in Design and Technology.
We measure the impact of our design and technology curriculum through:
- Evidence in floor books
- Formative assessment
- End of unit assessments
- Data entered onto school tracking system, shared with SLT
- Pupil interviews about their learning
- Staff audits