The teaching of Design Technology at Sleights is underpinned by the ongoing development and acquisition of knowledge and skills. This development and acquisition occurs as a result of our own school’s curriculum sequence and progression, which maps out the core knowledge and skills children need to be highly effective designers.
At Sleights, children are taught skills and knowledge relating to designing, making and evaluating:
Cooking and nutrition, Electronics, Mechanisms, Structures, Textiles
Our full policy for Design and Technology can be found here: Design Technology
Design Technology at Sleights involves:
|
Dedicated curriculum time to engage in range of purposeful and practical experiences relating to designing, making and evaluating. |
|
Sequenced learning experiences, which build on prior knowledge and understanding. |
|
Developing a secure knowledge and understanding of the practical knowledge and skills related to designing, making and evaluating. |
|
Opportunities to use a range of practical tools and opportunities to support the design, make and evaluate process. |
Statement of Design Technology Intent:
The children at Sleights will be provided with a curriculum offer for Design Technology to:
- identify crucial learning, which is placed in context and connected to other knowledge.
- gain a secure understanding a range of design specialisms, including electronics, textiles, structures, food and mechanisms.
- build on and develop design and technology knowledge and skills in a well sequenced and structured progression across their time at Sleights.
- support children’s acquisition and progressive understanding of substantive and disciplinary knowledge relating to design and technology.
- gain an understanding of a wide range of design and technology in the world around us.
- use a wide range of practical tools and techniques to help understand the process of design, make and evaluate.
- secure an understanding of the processes involved in gaining and applying skills from a design stage, through to development of a final piece of work and follow up evaluation.
- enable children to understand a range of design skills, concepts and vocabulary, which can be used widely across the planned curriculum and beyond.
Statement of Design Technology Implementation:
Our approach:
Understanding design and technology in real life contexts is a key element of the curriculum at Sleights. During the time spent focused on one particular area of Design and Technology, the children are provided with opportunities to evaluate existing products or processes, before designing, making and then evaluating their own. This is demonstrated in the cycle below.
Design and Technology at Sleights focuses on the acquisition of new knowledge and building on prior learning relating to:
- substantive knowledge:
- which includes knowledge and skills related to specific design, make and evaluate processes
- technical knowledge and skills which identifies the specific information required for each identified area of the design and technology curriculum.
- disciplinary knowledge – which helps children to know and use non-specific design, make and evaluate skills and knowledge.
Our Long Term Plan
The long term plan for Design Technology at Sleights identifies three units to be taught each academic year. The long term plan operates on a Year A and B cycle, ensuring that all six identified specialisms are taught across Early Years Key Stage One, Lower Key Stage Two and Upper Key Stage Two.
In Early Years, children gain an understanding of creating with materials, junk modelling, joining paper and card and rockets.
| Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term | |
| Year A | Mechanisms | Structures | Electricity (KS2 only) |
| Year B | Textiles | Cooking and Nutrition |
Our progression documents identify key milestones in relation to intended acquisition of knowledge and skills for each identified area of the curriculum. These milestones are grouped into Key Stage One, Lower Key Stage Two and Upper Key Stage Two. In Early Years, the progression is broken down into four groups, beginning at birth and concluding at the statutory Early Learning Goal.
Within each area, knowledge is organised on our own planning to provide a clear progression and development. The area is broken down into the core elements of design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge. Staff use the progression documents to support lesson planning and delivery.
The school’s long term plan is intentionally designed to provide the flexibility for each of the areas identified in design and technology curriculum to be applied to a range of contexts and cross curricular focus. This supports the teaching and learning process to build purposeful cross curricular links across a range of subjects and topics.
