Reviewed by: Eben Groenewald, Achievement Committee on 3rd October 2022

Next Review: Autumn 2024

The purpose of the Design and Technology policy

This policy outlines the teaching and learning of Design and Technology. All children will have the opportunity to undertake Deign and Technology throughout their time at Kelvin Grove Primary School.

At Kelvin Grove Primary School, we intend that children should master Design and Technology to such an extent that they can make use of Design and Technology effectively in their everyday lives. Children will be taught Design and Technology in a way that ensures progression of skills, and follows a sequence to build on previous learning. Children will gain experience and skills of a wide range of formal elements of design and concepts of technology in a way that will enhance their learning opportunities, enabling them to use Design and Technology across a range of subjects

Aims and objectives

Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils at Kelvin Grove design, make and evaluate products for a specific purpose to solve real and relevant problems. They do this within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on other disciplines such as mathematics (mastery), science, computing (E-safety), English (vocabulary and spoken language) and art. All pupils experience all four stages of the design cycle: research, design, make and evaluate. They develop the skills to complete each with increasing independence and effectiveness, developing pride and ownership of their product. They also develop the necessary technical skills to participate in the design process.

Through the evaluation of past and present Design and Technology, they develop a critical understanding of how technology develops and its impact on daily life and the wider world; as well as how to maintain safe and utilise these technologies effectively.

At Kelvin Grove Primary School, we aim to:

– Prepare children to participate in tomorrow’s fast changing technologies.

– Engage the interests of all children and help sustain their motivation and enjoyment of practical learning.

– To provide opportunities for all children to design and make quality products.

– Provide children with the opportunity to explore food and cooking techniques along with healthy eating and environmental issues within food production.

– To develop design and making skills, knowledge and understanding to the best each child’s ability; using and selecting a range of tools, materials and components.

– To maintain and develop the confidence and ability of all children as creative problem solvers both individually and within a team.

– To be able to use computing in conjunction with the Designing and Making process.

– To support children, develop an understanding of the ways in which people in the past and present have used design and technology to meet their needs. To be reflective and evaluate such techniques, its uses and effects.

– To prepare children for living in a multi-cultural society by teaching consideration for other cultural which will be both important and beneficial.

– Help develop the social skills necessary to work as a member of a team, as well as the ability to work independently when the situation demands.

– Ensure that children develop skills to stimulate curiosity, imagination and creativity.

– Develop the ability to identify safety hazards and risks and take appropriate action.

We aspire for all pupils to:

– Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to engage in all 4 areas of DT

1. Design

2. Make

3. Evaluate

4. Technical Knowledge

– To criticise constructively and evaluate their own products and those of others.

Planning

Our school uses the subject content requirements set out in the National Curriculum as the basis for its curriculum planning in Design and Technology, and links this to topics being taught to give purpose and focus to the learning.

Curriculum planning in Design and Technology is carried out in three phases: long-term, medium-term and short-term. The long-term plan maps out the units covered in each term in each key phase. Progression across year groups and key phases are planned so that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school.

The medium-term plans give details of the work for each half-term. They identify learning objectives for each unit of work, and ensure an appropriate balance and distribution of knowledge, understanding and skills.

Short term plans are prepared on a weekly basis. Activities in Design and Technology are planned to build upon the prior learning of the children and teaching is focused on the needs and abilities of the children to ensure that pupils of all abilities are given the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding.

We plan activities in Design and Technology so that children build upon their prior learning. We give children of all abilities the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding. We build planned progression into scheme of work; so that children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school.

EYFS

We encourage the development of skills, knowledge and understanding that support children within EYFS to make sense of their world as an integral part of the school’s work. The development of children within EYFS are related to the children’s knowledge and Understanding of the World, which are set out in the Early Learning Goals. These underpin the curriculum planning for children within this age phase. This learning forms the foundations for the later work in Design and Technology.

Teaching and Learning in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two

We follow a broad and balanced Design and Technology curriculum that builds on previous learning and provides both support and challenge for learners. We follow a Design and Technology scheme that ensures and progression of skills and covers all aspects of the Design and Technology curriculum. All classes will not have a scheduled Design and Technology lesson each week but will be taught Design and Technology alongside other curriculum subjects. The practical nature of Design

and Technology makes it more appropriate for the subject to be blocked and taught over one or two whole days or over a series of consecutive afternoons, rather than as a weekly lesson, and teachers will use their professional judgement when organising the timing of the teaching sequence. Children’s work and pictures of their work will be stored on the staff shared drive for reference and assessment. We want to ensure that Design and Technology is embedded in our whole school curriculum and that opportunities for enhancing learning by using design and technology are always taken.

The learning opportunities, as set out in the National Curriculum, come under the headings of design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge. At Kelvin Grove Primary School, the following elements are included in DT teaching:

1. Investigative, disassembly and information gathering activities (Research)

These activities provide opportunities for the children to explore existing products and to gain knowledge and understanding which can be applied in a designing and making purposeful products. This may include; disassembly and investigation of existing products, personal research using a variety of sources including books or the internet, and in KS2 possibly talking to potential users to consider their needs and requirements and developing an understanding of appropriate materials taking into consideration factors such as properties, manufacture and perhaps cost.

2. Focused practical tasks (Technical Knowledge)

Focused practical tasks provide opportunities to learn and practice particular skills and knowledge. These can be taught either as part of the design process or in a separate session.

3. The design process (Design)

The process of design provides an opportunity for the children to design purposeful, functional products for themselves and other users based on design criteria. At Key Stage 1, this will include communicating ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology. At Key Stage 2, it will also involve more sophisticated methods such as, annotated sketches, cross-sectional, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.

4. Making (Make)

Pupils select use tools and equipment to perform practical tasks. They select and use a range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities, to make their product.

5. Evaluation (Evaluate)

Pupils evaluate their product against their design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work.

Homework All homework is set in line with the school’s homework policy and is directed by each class teacher. To extend the learning of Design and Technology outside of school, teachers may choose to set a directed task.

Links between DT and other subjects

Design and Technology has many links with other subjects. Through the units of work, contributions are made to computing, English, Mathematics, Science, Art and Design, PSHE and Citizenship,

History, Geography and Music. This will help children to recognise the importance of Design and Technology to daily life and help them make relevant links.

Contribution of Design and Technology to Teaching in Other Curriculum Areas

English Design and Technology contributes to the teaching of English by providing valuable opportunity to reinforce what children have been learning within English lessons. Language modelled within lessons, as well as discussions held, prompt children to be able to explain and discuss their designs both orally and on paper articulating their ideas through standard spoken English. Children are able to compare and contrast their views with those of others. Children develop the ability to justify their personal views and clarify their design ideas, using specific vocabulary and standard English.

Mathematics many units of learning within Design and Technology provided opportunities for children to use their mathematical skills and incorporate a mastery level of maths, in a real-life situation and context. The main areas of mathematics covered are:

– Problem solving

– Measure

– Shape and space

– Handling data

Science

There are many opportunities for children to use and develop their scientific knowledge and understanding. The following are opportunities, which allow children to use their knowledge and understanding through:

– Working with a range of material.

– Different types of card and paper

– Working with electrical circuits and switches

– Working with food, products related to healthy eating.

Computing

Computing is used for a range of reasons across Design and Technology. Children use software to enhance their skills in designing and making, as well as use draw-and-paint programmes to model ideas and make repeating patterns. They use the internet to gather a range of information and access images to support with their planning and designing process. At the start of every session, which involve using the internet, children are reminded of how to use the internet safely and what to do if there is something that may cause concern to the child.

Art and Design

Many units provide opportunities for children to use and develop creative skills, knowledge and understanding. Through these opportunities, children are able to use their creative knowledge, skills and understanding through

– Use of pattern, texture and colour

– Investigating products from a rage of cultures

– Safe use of materials and tools.

Differentiation

In all classes there are children of differing abilities. We recognise this fact and provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies:

– Setting common tasks that are open-ended and can have a variety of results;

– Setting tasks of increasing difficulty where not all children complete all tasks;

– Using additional adults to support the work of individual children or small groups.

Equal Opportunities

At Kelvin Grove Primary School we are committed to providing all children with and equal entitlement to scientific activities and opportunities regardless of race, gender, culture, class, sexual orientation or physical ability. We recognise children as individuals and base our teaching upon our knowledge of their specific needs. A range of teaching methods and resources allow children with a wide range of abilities to achieve their full potential. The use of multi-cultural resources is encouraged and teachers are aware of gender issues surrounding specific DT topics.

Kelvin Grove Primary school is a Rights Respecting School. We work together to learn about and respect children’s rights both locally and globally. Our DT policy reflects the following articles:

‘Article 28: Your right to learn and to go to school.’

‘Article 29: Your right to be the best that you can be.’

Global learning

The governors, staff, children and parents recognise that global issues are an important part of the lives of our children living in a world where economies are increasingly interdependent and global communication is a daily reality.

Key global issues are explored in DT at Kelvin Grove through discussions about real world problems and technological solutions to these. Relevant DT lessons also promote understanding of global environmental issues. In KS1 this includes discussions about issues such as where food comes from and in KS2 children are made aware of issues surrounding the environmental impact of what materials they choose to use and sustainability. The global dimension of DT should be reflected in the attitudes and values of our students, the ethos of the school, the Programmes of Study and Key Skills. Although direct reference to this is not continuously made, this policy is written with consideration to our school commitment to promoting and developing global learning across the curriculum.

Resources

Resources are located two cupboards located in the Design and Technology co-ordinator’s classroom. It is the responsibility of each class teacher to collect resources and then return them after use. If any resources become broken during use, the Design and Technology leader needs to be informed as soon as possible. The Design and Technology leader is responsible for ordering resources from the Design and Technology budget, and should be informed by teachers, prior to the start of a topic, of any materials required to teach the Design and Technology element.

Health and Safety

The general teaching requirement for health and safety applies in this subject.

In addition to this, the following precautions are to be adhered to:

Use of equipment:

– Children should be given suitable instruction on the operation of all equipment before being allowed to work with it.

– Children should be strictly supervised in their use of equipment at all times.

– Children should be taught to respect the equipment they are using and to keep it stored safely while not in use.

– Children should be taught to recognise and consider hazards and risks and to take action to control these risks, having followed simple instructions.

Food Hygiene:

– Pupils and staff will take care to undertake appropriate hand washing and other hygiene related activities prior to preparing food.

– All potentially hazardous jewellery should be removed and hair tied back.

– Appropriate instruction and supervision to be given if children are using sharp knives or working near heat sources.

Glue Guns

– Low temperature glue guns should only be used by an adult in Key Stage One and The Foundation Stage unless there is one-to-one supervision for a pupil.

– Key Stage two children should use low temperature glue guns under supervision in a designated work area, wearing safety goggles.

Knives

– Sharp craft knives should only be used by an adult/teacher in Key Stage One and the Foundation Stage.

– Child friendly knives can be used in the lower school for the purposes of food preparation with adult supervision and instruction.

– Key Stage Two children may use craft cutting equipment under supervision, using a cutting mat and wearing safety goggles.

Sawing

– Bench hooks and clamps must be used when sawing any material.

– Safety goggles must be worn and any loose items of clothing/hair must be tucked in.

Progress and Assessment

Children enjoy and value Design and Technology and know why they are doing things, not just how. Children will understand and appreciate the value of Design and Technology in the context of their personal wellbeing and the creative and cultural industries and their many career opportunities. Progress in Design and Technology will be demonstrated through regularly reviewing and scrutinising children’s work, to ensure that progression of skills is taking place. Namely through:

– Looking at pupils’ work, especially over time as they gain skills and knowledge

– Observing how they perform in lessons

– Talking to them about what they know

The Design and Technology curriculum will contribute to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. This would be seen in them being able to talk confidently about their work, and sharing their work with others. Progress will be shown through outcomes and through the important record of the process leading to them.

Roles & Responsibilities

The Design and Technology Leader will:

– Monitor Design and Technology within the school e.g. through curriculum walks, planning scrutinies, pupil interviews;

– Keep up to date with new developments and inform staff;

– Encourage other members of staff in their Design and Technology teaching and give support where appropriate;

– Ensure that Design and Technology resources are available and appropriate to the needs of the staff;

– Ensure that Design and Technology keeps an appropriate profile within the school, through displays etc;

– Audit resources regularly and take overall responsibility for equipment and resources.

The Class Teacher will:

– Be responsible for the planning and teaching of Design and Technology as set out in this policy.

Teaching Assistants, when available during Design and Technology lessons, will:

– support the class teacher in delivering Design and Technology, and in particular support the work of individual children or small groups at the direction of the class teacher;

– collect resources, if requested to do so by the class teacher.