Blackfell Primary School

Design and Technology

Intent

At Blackfell Primary School, Design and Technology is fully inclusive to every child. Design and Technology helps prepare children for the developing world. Combing practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, the subject helps children to become creative problem solvers, both as individuals and as a team. Design and Technology helps all children to become informed consumers and potential innovators. It assists with an understanding of how everyday products are designed and made.

The aims of teaching Design and Technology in our school are:

Develop creative, technical and imaginative thinking in children and to develop confidence to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.
Enable children to talk about how things work and to develop their technical knowledge.
Apply a growing body of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make prototypes and products for a wide range of users.
Encourage children to select appropriate tools and techniques when making a product, whilst following safe procedures.
Develop an understanding of technological processes and products, their manufacture and their contribution to our society.
Foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making things.
Critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products, and the work of others. • Understand and apply the principles of nutrition and to learn how to cook.
Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world.

Special Educational Needs Disability (SEND) / Pupil Premium / Higher Attainers

All children will have Quality First Teaching. Any children with identified SEND or in receipt of pupil premium funding may have work additional to and different from their peers in order to access the curriculum dependent upon their needs. As well as this, our school offers a demanding and varied curriculum, providing children with a range of opportunities in order for them to reach their full potential and consistently achieve highly from their starting points.

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in Design and Technology, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Design and Technology is taught termly, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. We focus around five key areas: mechanisms, structure, textiles, electrical systems, and food and nutrition, across both key stages. At Blackfell, we ensure that Design and Technology is given the same importance as the core subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences.

The Design and Technology curriculum at Blackfell Primary School is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each Key Stage. Teachers plan lessons for their class using our ‘Blackfell Schemes of Work’ document. This progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills/knowledge taught is progressive from year group to year group. Teachers can use this document to plan their Design and Technology lessons suitable to their class’ prior attainment. The progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills, knowledge and vocabulary are progressive from year group to year group.

Before planning a unit of work, teachers will assess children’s prior knowledge and understanding through questioning and ‘Flash Back Grids’, to ensure work is pitched at the correct level. A variety of teaching approaches are used based on the teacher’s judgement. Children showing extensive aptitude in Design and Technology will be celebrated in celebration assemblies. These students may also have their work displayed in school and may win competitions that we take part in (Rotary Club etc.) Teaching subject specific vocabulary is also a key part of our Design and Technology curriculum. The vocabulary children will need for that unit is identified on our ‘Blackfell Schemes of Work’ and this builds upon the vocabulary they have learnt in previous years.

Design and Technology assessment is based on teacher assessment of children and incorporates ‘Locked in Learning’ and end of unit quizzes. During lessons, ‘Braindrops’ are used for children to demonstrate what they have learnt during a lesson. Teachers will also use ‘Flash Back Grids’ within each unit to assess the retention of learning. At the end of each unit, assessments are then reported on the school’s assessment document and the percentage of children working at, above and below the expected standard are identified for that unit. At the end of each year, a judgement is also made as to whether each child has met the expected standard in Design and Technology which is then passed on to the next class teacher as a record of the child’s progress throughout the year.

At Blackfell Primary School, we provide a variety of opportunities for learning inside and outside of the classroom. Every year, we have an ‘Enrichment Day’ where the subject leader plans fun, engaging activities linked to Design and Technology for the children to enjoy. The enrichment day offers an opportunity for parents to engage with the school and join in with their children’s learning. Educational visits are another opportunity for teachers to plan for additional Design and Technology learning outside the classroom. At Blackfell Primary School, the children have many opportunities to experience Design and Technology on educational visits. The children have visited local museums, food establishments, and have had visitors into school to share learning and have hands on experiences. In recent years, teachers have linked with local businesses (e.g. Nissan) to use their facilities, technology and expertise.

At Blackfell Primary School, teachers make use of the extensive grounds and outdoor learning area when planning for their class. Alongside our curriculum provision for Design and Technology, we also provide all pupils with the opportunity to participate in Design and Technology based extra-curricular activities or through enterprise projects.

Impact

Within Design and Technology, we strive to prepare children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. We aim to encourage children to become creative problem solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team.

Through the study of Design and Technology, children combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as of functions and industrial practices. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impact.

Our Design and Technology curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary progression also form part of the units of work.

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

Images and videos of the children’s practical learning
Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice) and assessment of pupil discussions about their learning
Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s sketchbooks are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers and subject leaders to understand their class’s work
Reporting of standards across the curriculum during pupil progress meetings
Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum to parents/carers

Mrs. McMieken

September 2024