A member of Dales Academies Trust
Design and Technology Curriculum Statement
At Carnagill School, our curriculum is built around the attitudes and values of independence, curiosity, aspiration, commitment, kindness and pride. Our school motto of ‘Inspiring Bright Futures Together’ demonstrates our commitment to developing the whole child so that they can succeed in life. Mental health and well-being is a key driver in restoring our school community after the disruption of the pandemic.
At Carnagill School, the curriculum we offer is based around the four key principles of:
We underpin all of this with:
Context
At Carnagill, we recognise that we are living in an ever-changing world. Our Design and Technology curriculum encourages children to become independent, creative problem solvers and thinkers as individuals and as part of a team.
We believe that Design and Technology should provide children with a real life context for learning. We recognise the importance of encouraging our children to have ambitious life aspirations. We want to allow children to aspire to be more through creating opportunities for them in the wider world. Through our DT curriculum, children will be inspired by engineers, designers, chefs and architects to enable them to create a range of structures, mechanisms, textiles and food products with a real life purpose. Children will develop an understanding of the role design and technology plays both in our society as well as globally. We want children develop the knowledge and skills to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.
We encourage children to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. Children will learn about past and present design and technology and they will develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.
As part of our Design and Technology curriculum we ensure that children develop an understanding of nutrition and health. Our school is surrounded by many fast-food restaurants and we find that many children do not have an understanding of the importance of eating a balanced diet. We believe that learning to cook is a crucial life skill which will enable children to look after themselves now and in the future. Throughout their time at our school, children will learn basic cooking skills and the importance of eating a balanced diet.
Intent
At Carnagill Primary School we want children to:
- Be independent by using their creativity and imagination to design and make products
- Be curious by wanting to find out how technology has changed throughout time and how it can make a difference to the future of our world
- Aspire to be part of our increasingly technological world, thinking of their own innovative ideas
- Show commitment by persevering and problem solving to find a solution
- Be kind and value others’ ideas and suggestions. Understand that teamwork is an important skill to develop
- Be proud of their ideas, wanting to test then out and share them with others
Implementation
Our Design and Technology curriculum is taught through engaging and exciting topics where children are given opportunities to link their learning in a cross-curricular way to other subjects such as maths, computing and science, as well as creating links to real-life.
We aim to ensure that children:
- produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
- have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be architects, graphic designers, chefs or carpenters.
- Evaluate and analyse creative work, using language related to Design and Technology
- Know about past and present craft makers, designers and inventors
- Understand the historical and cultural development of designs and technologies
Key skills and knowledge are a high priority at Carnagill. Key knowledge and skills for Design and Technology are selected from the National Curriculum and have been mapped across the school to show a clear progression from EYFS to KS1 and then to KS2. Basic skills underpin all learning throughout our Design and Technology curriculum.
A key question will be used at the start of each lesson or project which will support children to build upon previous knowledge and link this to current knowledge and learning. Direct teaching will be used to develop children’s DT skills and techniques as well as correct vocabulary. In line with the National Curriculum, children learn the basic process of Design and Technology which includes: design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge. These are built upon throughout KS1 and then developed into KS2.
Design and Technology lessons are taught as part of a half termly topic. Children will have the opportunity to learn, think and intervene creatively to solve problems both as an individual and as part of a team. Our children are provided with opportunities to use their own imagination, creativity and ideas, designing and making products for their own and other’s needs. We aim to develop and build upon children’s independent learning skills, allowing them to build ownership of their work as well as resilience.
Vocabulary and the development of vocabulary is at the heart of our curriculum. Our children will be introduced to a range of subject specific vocabulary throughout the topics they learn about each year. This vocabulary will be highlighted and modelled during teaching time. Teachers will have high expectations that children will try to use correct vocabulary and encourage them to do so. The development of vocabulary and prioritising of talk will help children to build transferable skills to allow them to communicate and share their learning.
Impact
Children will:
- Learn vocabulary and key words specific to Design and Technology and understand when to use this vocabulary
- Be curious about technology within the wider world. They will want to understand more about how technology has changed our world and how it will change it in the future
- Aspire to want to make a difference in the world
- Develop DT specific skills and become proficient in these
- Show commitment by persevering and thinking outside of the box to solve any challenges they face
- Show pride in their work. Be proud of themselves when they have produced a piece of work to a high standard. Want to share these achievements with others.
