Design Technology

Design Technology Leader: Miss Wood

Vision

At Holme Junior and Infant School, we are guided by our core values of being aspirational, adventurous, creative, resilient, respectful, and independent. These values shape our vision for our Design and Technology curriculum and underscore our commitment to nurturing well-rounded, confident individuals who are equipped with the skills to transition into the next stage of their school life.

Aspirational: We believe that every child has the potential to achieve greatness. Our DT curriculum is designed to inspire ambition and set high expectations for our learners. We embed visits to relevant designers and companies,hold end of unit events such as fashion shows and Bake Offs and encourage our pupils to aim for the stars and provide them with the tools and support they need to reach their aspirations. 

Adventurous: Design and Technology is an adventure where they hold the key. We encourage our pupils to embrace the challenge of discovery. We foster a sense of curiosity and a willingness to take risks in their designs and makes, encouraging them to step out of their comfort zones and explore new techniques.

Creative: Design and Technology allows all our children to be creative. We encourage our pupils to explore and experiment with their ideas. Children create a range of designs and explore creative thinking. 

Resilient: We teach our pupils the importance of resilience and persistence in the face of challenges. We believe that making mistakes is a valuable part of the learning process, and we encourage our pupils to view setbacks as opportunities for growth.  

Respectful: We value collaboration, teamwork, and a respectful exchange of ideas in our class community.  We explore evaluating our own and others' work in a respectful forum. 

Independent: We empower our pupils to become independent. We provide them with the skills to tackle challenges, instilling confidence in their abilities and fostering a sense of self-reliance. 

Our vision is to cultivate pupils who are not only proficient in the academic skills needed for the next stage of their education at Holme but who also embody these values. We aim to develop learners who are aspirational in their pursuits, adventurous in their exploration, creative in their ideas, resilient in the face of challenges, respectful of others and independent.

Implementation

At Holme Junior and Infant School, our pupils will learn to design and make:

• a range of sweet and savoury food products
• a range of textiles
• structures
• mechanisms

(These are referred to as the four strands that are woven through our DT curriculum and form the focus of each unit.)

Design Technology will be taught through a process which involves pupils:

• evaluating a range of products that fulfill a given brief
• designing
• practising skills
• making
• evaluating/assessing against the brief

Progression

Our curriculum is designed to enable pupils to progress through a sequence of skills and technical knowledge as they move through the school. These are developed within a two-year cycle that alternates complementary skills, which build on skills learned in the previous key stage and equip them for the challenges in the next cycle, as well as further learning in design and technology.

Rationale

Where we have chosen to focus on a particular designer or design brief, our curriculum is designed to emphasise our drivers of diversity, environment, community, creativity and aspiration.

Organisation

Units are taught either half-termly or termly. Class 1 and 2 will be learning along the same theme however, the progression of skills and overall outcome is clearly differentiated.

EYFS

Although not explicitly required by the ELGs, skills and knowledge about DT are experienced in the EYFS through play, exploration and enrichment, focusing on practical learning rather than abstract design.

Long Term Plans

Impact

We assess pupils' skills and knowledge against our own curriculum. 

Each unit of work is developed through careful curriculum planning, allowing pupils to make progress.

As pupils advance through these stages, teachers conduct day-to-day formative assessments to build a comprehensive picture of each pupil's progress.

At the end of each unit, teachers make a summative assessment.

• Expected Standard: Pupils meeting the expected level of understanding and skill.
• Working Towards the Expected Standard: Pupils developing towards the expected level.
• Working Deeper Within the Expected Standard: Pupils exceeding the expected level with deeper understanding and skills.

This model helps in reporting progress and achievement to the next teacher or key stage. At Holme Junior and Infant School, we monitor and track pupil progress in Design and Technology by using our assessment grids at the end of each lesson. Our spreadsheet outlines key assessment statements from the lessons outlined on Medium Term Plans.