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Our Wessex family of schools

DT

At Manor Park First School School, children receive a Design and Technology curriculum, which allows them to exercise their creativity through designing and making. Through scaffolding and inclusion, we maximise the potential of all of our pupils, intellectually, socially, morally, emotionally and culturally. Design and Technology  provides children with a real life context for learning. Through the DT curriculum, children will be motivated by engineers, designers, chefs and architects to enable them to create a range of structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems and food products with a real life purpose.

Where possible, Design Technology projects are cross-curricular, linking to other subjects taught and allowing children to easily make connections to their learning in these subjects. Teachers use the long term plan and progression of skills map  to ensure all aspects of DT are covered according to the children’s prior learning and their age. Teachers identify these previously learned skills, then plan according to key learning within designing, making, evaluating and technical knowledge and understanding. Key vocabulary including technical vocabulary is identified and explicitly taught. 

Our progression grid ensures skills and knowledge taught across the school are built upon and revisited. Children are taught to:

Design:

• use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups. • generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.

Make:

• select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks (for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing, as well as chopping and slicing) accurately.

• select from and use a wider range of materials, ingredients and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties, aesthetic qualities and, where appropriate, taste.

Evaluate:

•investigate and analyse a range of existing products.

•evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work.

•understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world

Technical knowledge:

•apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures.

•understand and use mechanical systems in their products.
• understand and use electrical systems in their products.
•apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products

Understand some of the ways that food can be processed and the effect of different cooking practices (including baking and grilling).

Assessment of children's learning in Design and Technology is an ongoing monitoring of children's understanding, knowledge and skills by the class teacher. It is monitored by the subject leader throughout the year in the form of work scrutiny, lesson observations and pupil interviews.

 We ensure that practice in the subject is healthy, safe and hygienic. Children are taught to work safely, using tools, equipment, materials, components and techniques appropriate to the task.