Design and Technology
Intent
At Brindle St James' we encourage our children to use their creativity and imagination to design and make products within a variety of contexts and also consider their own and other’s needs, wants and values.
Our design and technology curriculum combines skills and knowledge to enable our children to tackle real problems. We aim to improve our children’s analysis, problem solving, practical capability and evaluation skills. We also aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.
We want our children to become innovators and risk-takers.
- To develop our children’s creativity, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.
- For our children to build and apply a repertoire of skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users.
- To develop our children’s skills to critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.
- For our children to develop an understanding of and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.
- To provide skills and vocabulary based on design and technology curriculum, which is progressive and sequenced.
- To offer our children new and exciting opportunities and experiences.
Implementation
The teaching of Design & Technology at Brindle St James follows the National Curriculum. The children focus on Food Technology, Mechanical Structures and Textiles. Children are immersed in the design process by researching a range of products and designers to understand a products purpose. Through the evaluation of past and present technology, they can reflect on the impact of design and technology on everyday life and the wider world. They will create their own design criteria with the products purpose and intended user in mind. In food technology, children develop an understanding of where food comes from, the importance of a varied diet and how to prepare this.
Children are taught the skills they need to design and make their own product, which builds on previously learned skills. It is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject, requiring curiosity, creativity, collaborative working, resourcefulness and imagination. Children learn to take risks, be reflective, innovative, enterprising and resilient. Throughout the process, children are actively encouraged to evaluate their own work and that of their peers in order to understand the importance of the design brief and how their product links to it.
Impact
As a result of our designing process, children become confident designers and are equipped with the transferrable knowledge and skills to continue their learning.
Assessment of children’s learning in design and technology is an ongoing monitoring of children’s understanding, knowledge and skills by the class teacher, throughout the lessons. This assessment is then used to inform differentiation, support and challenge required by the children.
Subject Leader Miss Corney