Design & Technology

“The inventors of tomorrow have to be inspired today”    

- Sir James Dyson (1947- present)

Subject Leader: Miss J.Utton

Subject Governor: Sarah Pickering 

Intent Statement 

At Pinders Primary, we aim to stimulate creativity and innovative thinking by providing children with opportunities to be designers, makers and engineers. We encourage all of our children to think resourcefully, not only in the classroom but also during play and recreational time with our den building resources and forest school sessions. Our critical thinking and evaluating approach to the broader curriculum ensures children can problem solve analytically and reflectively. We embed time for experimentation in our lessons to allow children to evaluate materials and assess their product ideas before creating their final design. We also encourage individuality, ensuring that each child has opportunities to critically evaluate and adapt their own ideas and be able to carry them out independently. 

Aims in teaching Design and Technology at Pinders Primary school: 

We aim to: 

• Provide children with a range of resources to research existing products in order to make informed and critically thought through decisions. 
• Develop design based skills reflecting on their research and design brief. 
• Improve and grow upon their making, cooking and engineering skills when making their final projects. 
• Develop the skills to critically evaluate in order to improve their products.

How is the content/ theme chosen? 

Whenever possible, we teach through a themed approach, to enable children to embed learning and make connections, which leads to a greater depth of understanding within the subject. Design related texts have been carefully selected to cover a range of different themes and skills. The content is therefore chosen to make effective links with key design skills, reflect expectations in the National Curriculum Programmes of Study and Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, which will engage and inspire our children. 

Our Design and Technology National Curriculum Programme: 

We explore a range of different design areas including: Textiles, computer aided design, coding and algorithms, nutrition and cooking from around the world, wheels and axels and gears and pulleys. 

How is the subject taught?

Throughout the teaching of Design and Technology at Pinders Primary School the children follow the process of: Research, Design, Make and Evaluate. 

A book focus, the heart of our learning, is introduced at the start of a topic and referred back to throughout the four stages of the design process. This aims to inspire pupils to make comprehensive links within other areas of the curriculum and develops their understanding of the wider world. Children are encouraged to research using a range of resources including information texts found in our extensive library and classroom book shelves; on their computing tablets via the internet and through external visitors and school trips. 

The children are given a specific design brief to follow as if they are professional designers, chefs or engineers. This immerses the children into the exciting, engaging and inventive process of design and technology. The design process also aims to develop visual communication and presentation skills, helping the children visualise and transfer their ideas clearly following their research and design brief.

Our pupils really value making their design into a product. We have a huge range of resources and materials for the children to work with. The children access a range of experiences and gain knowledge of how a product is made with the hands on experience of making their design into a final product. 

The final stage of evaluating is an integral part of the role of a designer. Our pupils understand this process and it's significance on the world of design and technology. The children build the skills to offer productive and constructive critiques to their own work and the work of others. Not only does this teach the relevant design and technology skills cited in the National Curriculum but it also teaches values such as resilience and resourcefulness. 

How do we ensure progression of knowledge and skills?

During the planning of Design and Technology, teachers at Pinders Primary use a specific progression document to ensure lessons are sequenced appropriately and tailored to individual year groups. 

Within these extensive documents there are opportunities  for adaptive teaching in order to meet the needs of all learners. 

Becoming a Designer

During the teaching of design and technology children are explicitly informed that they are the 'designers', 'engineers', 'chefs' and 'inventers'. They are briefed on what the design role includes and taught industry specific skills on how to be successful in the field of design and technology.

In Design and Technology these are

As Designers we are learning to: 

· Research products, designs and significant people to inspire our work.

· Design a product, thinking critically about its properties, materials and structure

· Make our product using a range of resources and practical   making skills.

· Evaluate our designs and final product and think critically on how ideas can be improved. 

Significant people in Design and Technology

Our curriculum has been carefully designed to provide our pupils with the opportunity to know about great designers both in the past and present and to explore local designers linked. 

What does Design and Technology look like at Pinders Primary School?

Curriculum Documentation