Sir John Offley CE (VC) Primary School

DT – Intent, implementation and impact

'With God all things are possible’

Design and Technology 

Intent:

At Sir John Offley CE (VC) Primary School we aim to provide all children with a broad and balanced curriculum which prepares them for life beyond primary education. We encourage children to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.  Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. It can be found in many of the objects children use each day and is a part of children’s immediate experiences. Design and Technology encourages children to learn to think and intervene creatively to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team. At Sir John Offley CE (VC) Primary School, the Design and Technology curriculum combines skills, knowledge, concepts and values to enable children to tackle real problems. It can improve analysis, problem solving, practical capability and evaluation skills.  We aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. The children are encouraged to become innovators and risk-takers. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.

Aims:

At Sir John Offley CE (VC) Primary School the curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.

• build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users.

• critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.

• understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook. 

Implementation:

Teachers plan their curriculum. As part of this planning process, teachers need to plan the following: 

• A knowledge organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) all children must master;
• A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth;
• Trips and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience;
• Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner;
• A means to display and celebrate the pupils’ artwork in their class.

Impact:

Our Design and Technology curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress.

In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes;
• A celebration of learning for each term which demonstrates progression across the school;
• Pupil discussions about their learning; which includes discussion of their thoughts, ideas, processing and evaluations of work.