Design & Technology          

 Aims

Design and Technology is an inspiring and practical subject where children get to be creative, design and make products for real life scenarios, thinking about the user for a product. 

At Victoria Road we aim to ensure that all pupils:

• Develop a range of design and technology skills and practical expertise needed to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
• Acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on maths, science, engineering, computing and art to support the design and making of high-quality prototypes and products
• Investigate and explore real life products to analyse how they work and how this can be used in their own designs
• Think about the users needs, wants and values and the finished design of their product
• Learn to take risks and develop resilience in the design process as their ideas develop, learning from failures and using this knowledge to enhance new ideas
• Learn to critique, evaluate and test ideas and products and the work of others
• Have an opportunity to taste and talk about a variety of food types increasing vocabulary about flavours and preferences
• Apply basic principles of nutrition, seasonal vegetables and cooking on a budget in the real world
• Have an opportunity to learn basic cooking skills and be able to prepare a basic hot meal for themselves

 Implementation

At Victoria Road we follow the 2014 National Curriculum for DT and all year groups cover a range of design and technology units throughout the year, building on previous skills and knowledge. 

Our yearly programme of coverage ensures that, in their time at school, all children will develop their knowledge and skills in Textiles, Cooking and nutrition, Mechanisms, Structures and Electrical components. We ensure that children are taught specific skills of joining, using tools, moving parts and finished products, whilst following the process of ‘Explore’, ‘Design’, ‘Make’ and ‘Evaluate’. 

Explore:

Children are given opportunities to look in their immediate environment or local area for examples of similar products or working mechanisms and allowed to explore how and why these work. They learn different mechanisms, skills, techniques and explore the merits and designs of each of these. 

Design: 

Children are then given time to use their creativity and own ideas to design the product asked. At this stage they are encouraged to think about their user and how the product will be used. This gives an opportunity for personalisation and creativity but also requires the children to draw detailed drawings and clearly label their thoughts and ideas. We try to link this with the children's learning from sketchbooks in art and creating mood boards.

Make:

This is the stage where children can put their ideas into practice. This requires children to choose the most appropriate materials and justify their choices based on the use for the finished product. They need to choose the best technique and practise a range of skills to create their finished product. This process should involve a number of thinking, evaluating and adapting skills along the way to allow for unexpected eventualities. This is where children develop their resilience and flexibility in their final goal. Things don't always go to plan and sometimes the most successful designs have happened by mistake.

Evaluate:

This is a really important part of the process and an area where children often need supporting the most. Finished products are not always perfect or come out the way you had intended. Children need to be able to reflect on the process as well as the finished product and discuss what went well, what they like and dislike about the way the product came out and for others to be able to discuss their work without seeing this as a criticism. They need to see this as a part of the process of moving their skills forward when making a similar product. They also need to do all of this with the user and function in mind. 

Where possible we link to other subjects within the curriculum and often use English texts, Geography or History units as a stimulus for our learning. 

We have used the DT Association to help support the writing of our curriculum and use their resources to ensure children have clear guidance of technique, skills and supportive tips to develop their own ideas.

Early Years Foundation Stage

During the EYFS pupils explore and use a variety of media, tools and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. They have the opportunity to learn to:

• Use a variety of tools accurately and safely as they develop their fine motor skills including scissors, sellotape, hole punch, cutlery and modelling tools
• Develop their vocabulary as they ask and answer questions about their designs and creations
• Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing their designs and ideas
• Safely use and explore a variety of materials and techniques experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function
• Use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about form, function and purpose
• Make plans and construct with a purpose in mind using a variety of resources
• Share their creations explaining the process they have used
• Begin to develop the resilience needed to adapt their work when things don't always go to plan
• Manipulate construction toys, using them to build and create independently. These are used inside and outside and include smaller construction eg. Lego to larger wooden and blocks and tyres outside
• Cook and prepare food understanding basic hygiene principles, routines and understanding healthy eating

Key Stage 1 and 2

In Key Stage 1 and 2 at Victoria Road, we ‘block’ DT and Art. This means that the children have a full two weeks of focusing on a DT project within any seasonal term. This enables children to become immersed in their learning and follow the process of designing through to evaluating their finished product in a continuous journey.

We alternate DT and Art throughout the year, meaning every year group will have three DT and three art projects in any given year. 

We ensure that the children have a real life scenario to work from, giving them a purpose for their design. Each unit has a task to complete asking the children to design, make and evaluate a product, for a specific user, for a specific purpose. This ensures the children can think about the needs of their user when in the design stage of their learning and supports the evaluation of the product against their needs.

We have ensured that all year groups have an opportunity to develop their understanding of nutrition and healthy eating, as well as the skills needed to cook a variety of dishes. We want to ensure this includes a range of foods and flavours and not just baking of biscuits and cakes. Whilst these definitely have a place in the curriculum, we feel passionately that all children should leave Victoria Road with the basic cooking skills to ensure they can create and cook a basic hot lunch or meal for themselves and begin to understand the importance of budgeting and seasonal vegetables in the current financial situation and climate change.