Design & Technology

At Royal Rise Primary School all children, including SEN and disadvantaged learn the following concepts and themes through studying different aspects of DT throughout the school

Royal Rise’s Design and Technology curriculum follows the national curriculum. It aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through the design of the curriculum, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage all children to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements. The children will develop a creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. They will build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users. They will critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others and understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook. This aim is linked to the four strands, design, make, evaluate, and technical knowledge.

DT should provide children with a real-life context for learning. At Royal Rise we want to allow children to aspire to be more through creating opportunities for them in the wider world. Through the DT curriculum, children should be inspired by engineers, designers, chefs and architects from a variety of backgrounds to enable them to create a range of structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems and food products with a real-life purpose. At Royal Rise we ensure that every child has the opportunity to design, make and evaluate both their own work and the work of others. This is an integral part of learning which supports problem solving, imagination, creativity and inclusion. Our Design and Technology curriculum builds on previous learning and supports deeper thinking whilst facilitating risk taking and innovation.

The children are actively contributing to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of themselves. At Royal Rise we will be working in stimulating contexts that provide a range of opportunities and draw on the local ethos, community and wider world. They respond with ideas, products and systems, challenging expectations where appropriate and considering aesthetic, technical, cultural, health, social, emotional, economic, industrial and environmental issues.

Concepts 

• Designing
• Making
• Evaluating
• Using technical knowledge

  INNOVATE	DESIGN	MAKE	EVALUATE
  Innovative, fit-for-purpose and functional product solutions to design problems. Understand how key events and individuals have helped to shape the world of D&T.	Research Design criteria (e.g. tailoring to an audience/user). Idea generation (e.g. annotated sketches). Idea development (e.g. templates, pattern pieces.). Models and prototypes (both virtual and physical). Cross-sectional and exploded diagrams.	Select and use appropriate tools and equipment. Understand and select materials and components (including ingredients) based on their aesthetic and functional properties.  Carry out practical tasks with increasing accuracy and precision. Understand the importance of, and follow the health and safety rules.	Explore existing products. Evaluate against a list of design criteria. Evaluate, investigate and analyse existing products. Evaluate their own and others’ ideas. Consider feedback to make improvements.

Themes

• Cooking and nutrition
• Mechanisms / mechanical systems
• Structures
• Textiles
• Electrical systems 

Intent

Royal Rise’s Design and Technology curriculum follows the national curriculum. It aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through the design of the curriculum, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage children to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements.

Implementation

The Design and Technology National Curriculum outlines the three main stages of the design process: design, make and evaluate.  Each stage of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge, which encompasses the contextual, historical and technical understanding required for each strand. Cooking and nutrition has a separate section, with a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality.

Our Progression of Skills shows the skills that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage.

Curriculum overview

EYFS

Children are taught D.T. through the use of various construction materials to construct, stack and join blocks vertically and horizontally, make enclosures and create spaces. During the year, tools and techniques for a specific purpose are introduced and the children are taught how to use them competently and appropriately.

We progress to constructing with a purpose in mind, selecting and using the resources, tools and techniques that are appropriate. They are taught to describe the texture of things and are encouraged to combine different media to create different textures and achieve a planned effect. Children are encouraged to select appropriate resources and adapt their work where necessary.
Children also explore a unit called ‘My Home’ this links in with children’s knowledge of Geography where they learn about their homes and the area, they live in.

Children will also explore bridges and bicycles which links in with our local area and children’s prior historical learning.

With these stages of progress, by the end of the EYFS, we aim for the children to be able to safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experiment with colour, design, texture, form and function and represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology. 

Children learn to design and plan what they want to make then are encouraged and supported to try alternate methods and techniques to persevere and achieve their goals. Children In EYFS choose to keep their work to develop further or/ and share the processes and their ideas. In EYFS children learn to work out problems and organise their thinking. They learn to wash their hands before eating and preparing food and learn about the importance of healthy food choices. Children explore new and cultural foods plus follow simple picture recipes. Children learn about and try foods from different countries and cultures.

In EYFS children develop the strength, coordination, control and accuracy to join and manipulate and use small tools. Children explore and learn about how things work in Term 6. Children design their own roller skates and bikes and make their own small functional bridges. Children learn about parachutes and make their own, testing them and making changes. In term 5 children learn about enclosures and have to make their own enclosures for animals. In Term 5, when reading Mr Gumpy’s Outing, children are inspired to explore and make different boats.

Key Stage 1

Year 1

Children start by exploring windmills. Children can create suitable designs, explain their designs and then make suitable stable structures which will lead to the end product of creating their own windmill. This will then allow children to evaluate their designs and think about what they could improve on. Children will then move onto creating their own puppets, this links with their learning in EYFS where children are  taught to use different materials to construct models.

Children then connect their learning in science with food technology where they learn about different fruits and vegetables, naming a range of places that they grow. They use them to create simple dishes and learning how to clean and chop the food safely to create a final product of a smoothie.

Year 2

In Year 2, children begin with creating their own fairground wheels. Children will be taught to design their own wheel and think about what materials they feel were most appropriate, this links in with their previous learning where children need to think about and choose which resources, they think are most appropriate for their design.
 Children then connect their learning with Maths, children think about making a secure structure for baby bear’s chair, and discuss with their peers what shapes could be appropriate or inappropriate in their design.

Children will then work on healthy eating working towards an end goal of making their own healthy wrap. Children will learn what each food group is; which will help children to understand the importance of a healthy and ‘balanced’ diet. This links with the children’s science topic in Year 3 where children explore food groups and the benefits of each of them.

Key Stage 2

Year 3

In Year 3 children are taught about eating seasonally, this builds on children’s prior understanding where in Year 1 & Year 2 where they learnt about fruits and vegetables and the importance of eating a healthy ‘balanced’ diet

Children discuss and research seasonal vegetables and think deeply about what vegetables would be best suited in order to make and eat their own vegetable tarts. Children also focus on creating and designing their own smart wearables. This allows children to incorporate their use of computing to create their own sense light that will initiate a flashing LED light. The children get to evaluate and think about their product and whether it would be suitable for them to wear outside when it is darker.

When designing their own pouches, children will learn how to cross-stitch two pieces of fabric together and decorate their pouches. With a historical link, children can think about what a Roman might need their pouch for and make it a practical design.

Finally, children will deepen their understanding of the local community by designing and making their own castles.

Year 4

In Year 4, children are taught how to design, make and construct their own pavilions. Children use their skills from Year 3 where they constructed their own castles and think about how pavilions can be aesthetically pleasing.
There is also a scientific link where children create their own torches, having learnt about electricity in their previous topic children can use their knowledge of circuits to create a torch that can be used for specific purposes. Another scientific link is when children create their own slingshot cars. Children need to think scientifically and think about what will make a car travel the fastest.

Children will also be making and adapting their own biscuits, this links with enterprise where children are taught about budgets; therefore, children can think about how to make biscuits in the most cost-effective way.

Year 5

In Year 5, children create their own pop-up book where they use a mixture of structures and mechanisms to create their book. The children will also create their own Bolognese recipe, this encourages teamwork as children will need to work as a team to amend a recipe with healthy adaptations, having a science link children will be able to learn about where produce comes from and how it gets onto their plates.

The Doodler unit allows children to explore and circuits and motors in greater depth. Children will need to think about ways to switch the configuration and amend the function of the doodler. This allows the children to explain in greater depth what a doodler is and thinking about how they will assemble their very own doodler.

Year 6

In Year 6 children will focus on structures and textiles. When children are designing their own playground with apparatus, they will draw upon new knowledge and prior knowledge of structures. Children will use a range of materials and cut their own wood to decorate and make solid structures. This unit allows for greater discussion where children can peer evaluate one another’s designs; which allows them to adapt and improve their designs before their final creation.

When children design, prepare and assemble their waist coasts; children will use their prior understanding of how to use a running stitch and cross-stitch. Children will learn how to make neat stitches and sew accurately, whilst evaluating their work continually as it is created.

Curriculum overview