Design and Technology

2024/25 Long term overview: Click here

Aims and Objectives

Design and technology helps to prepare children for the developing world. The subject encourages children to become creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. Through the study of design and technology they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues. Design and Technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators. It should assist children in developing a greater awareness and understanding of how everyday products are designed and made.

The aims of design and technology in our school are:

• To develop imaginative thinking in children and to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making;
• To enable children to talk about how things work, and to draw and model their ideas;
• To encourage children to select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures;
• To foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making;
• To use computer software to assist our designing and learning.

Purpose of Design and Technology

Design and Technology gives children the opportunity to develop skill, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products.  We feel it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design by exploring the designed and made world in which we all live and work.

Curriculum

Early Years

Design and Technology in the Foundation Stage comes under the heading of Expressive Arts & Design. In the Foundation Stage, we provide opportunities for children to:

• develop a curiosity and interest in the made world through investigating, talking and asking questions about familiar products
• develop confidence and enthusiasm through frequent exploration
• develop construction skills to build and construct objects, and provide activities for exploring joining, assembling and shaping materials to make products
• extend their vocabulary through talking about and explaining their designing and making activities

Key Stage 1

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts (for example, the home and school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider environment).

When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:

Design

• design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
• generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology

Make 

• select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks (for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing)
• select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients according to their characteristics

Evaluate

• explore and evaluate a range of existing products
• evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria

Technical knowledge

• build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable
• explore and use mechanisms (for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles) in their products

By the end of Key Stage 1

By the end of Y2 most children should:

• use simple design criteria; state what their products are, who and what they are for and how they will work.
• generate ideas using their own experiences and existing products; use talk, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, computers.
• plan by suggesting what to do next; select from a range of tools, equipment, materials and components.
• follow procedures for safety and hygiene; measure, mark out, cut, shape, assemble, join, combine and finish a range of materials and components.
• make simple judgements about their products and ideas against design criteria.
• explore who and what products are for, how they work and are used, what materials they are made from and what they like and dislike about them.
• know about the simple working characteristics of materials and components, the movement of simple mechanisms, how freestanding structures can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable; use the correct technical vocabulary.
• know that food comes from plants or animals and that it is farmed or caught.
• know how to prepare simple dishes safely and hygienically without a heat source, name and sort foods into groups; know that everyone should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Key Stage 2

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making.  They should work in a range of relevant contexts (for example, the home, school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment).

When designing and making, pupils should be 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 and exploded 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) accurately
• select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities

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 (for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages)
• understand and use electrical systems in their products (for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors)
• apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products

By the end of Key Stage 2

• carry out research; develop a simple design specification; describe the user, purpose and design features of their products and explain how they will work.
• generate innovative ideas drawing on research; use a range of drawing skills, discussion, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.
• formulate lists of resources and step-by-step plans; select suitable tools, equipment, materials and components and explain their choices.
• follow procedures for safety and hygiene; use a wider range of materials and components; measure, mark out, cut, shape, assemble, join, combine and finish with accuracy.
• Identify strengths and areas to develop in their ideas and products against their design specification; consider the views of others to make improvements.
• investigate how well products have been designed and made, whether they are fit for purpose and meet user needs; why materials have been chosen, the methods of construction used, how well they work, and how innovative and sustainable they are.
• know about inventors, designers, engineers, chefs and manufacturers who have developed ground-breaking products.
• know that materials have functional and aesthetic qualities; that systems have an input, process and output; how to program a computer to control and monitor their products; how to reinforce and strengthen a framework; use the correct technical vocabulary.
• know that food is grown, reared and caught in the UK, Europe and the wider world; that seasons may affect the food available; how food is processed into ingredients.
• know how to prepare and cook a variety of dishes safely and hygienically using, where appropriate, a heat source; that different food and drink contain nutrients, water and fibre that are needed for health.

Cooking and nutrition

As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

Pupils should be taught to:

Key stage 1

• use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
• understand where food comes from

Key stage 2

• understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet
• prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques
• understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed