Design and Technology
Intent
At our school we want our pupils to be inspired to acquire and develop a broad range of skills and understanding to design and make products. We aim to develop our children’s creativity, resourcefulness and imagination when designing, investigating, analysing and evaluating in a range of relevant contexts. We strive to enable pupils to have an awareness of and interest in the impact of technology in our rapidly changing world.
Implementation
At Abbots Farm Infant School, the Design and Technology Curriculum is planned for and covered in full within the EYFS and KS1 school curriculum. We follow a ‘Teach and Tinker’ approach, whereby children are taught a skill via a whole class teaching input or through an adult directed activity and then they get to ‘tinker’ with the skill taught through independent continuous provision activities. Our children will explore different structures and mechanisms, develop their understanding of food and nutrition and shape and join a range of textiles. The process is viewed as important as the product and children are encouraged to evaluate and improve upon their designs regularly throughout the process.
Impact
We strive to ensure that our children’s attainment is in line with or exceeds their potential when we consider the varied starting points of all our children.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Conversations with children about their learning (pupil voice) – Do children enjoy designing and making products? Are children able to solve problems and see their ideas take shape? Can children identify and explain how design and technology impacts our lives? Can children demonstrate good attitudes in following health, safety and hygiene rules?
- Coaching with teacher focusing on providing a well-planned range of purposeful activities supporting children’s early development of practical skills
- Coaching with teachers in lessons to continuously improve our teaching of the design and technology curriculum. Good quality teaching encourages pupils to be innovative and creative and enables them to draw effectively upon their technological understanding and skills to produce ideas and make their designs
- All coaching provides opportunities for professional dialogue between teachers and DT lead which is reflective.
- Children demonstrate a confidence in and understanding of design and technology which they can apply when using tools or developing skills in other areas of the curriculum and can be used beyond school and into adulthood.