Subject Overview
Subject Leader Overview : DT
The 3 key drivers for our curriculum are integrated within our DT curriculum.
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Long term Memory |
Non-negotiable skills which are central to many areas of DT are revisited across each year group. Children become confident with their everyday basic tasks as they are allowed opportunities to practise and refine skills. They therefore develop a wide range of skills in which they are competent and can select from, depending on the task in hand. Regular repetition of safety procedures and routines ensures safe practise within the classroom. |
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Enquiry Based Curriculum |
We encourage our children to question what they are doing and think about who or what the products they are designing or making are for. As the children move up through school their questioning deepens as they explore and research in greater depth to find answers to their queries or design problems. Their questioning will lead to a deeper understanding of the world and the products within it. |
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Real Life Relevance |
We want our children to have some understanding of the process the products we use in our everyday lives go through prior to mass production. They need to experience the design process and understand that evaluating and adapting designs is crucial to the development of high-quality items. Children need to see that manufacturing is dependent on inventors and creators of products and that they are able to be part of that process in later life if they should choose. Our children need to appreciate the relevance of the design process in every item present in our lives: our favourite items have all been designed and made. |
Implementation
The DT national curriculum is broadly divided into KS1 and KS2 content areas. Within key stages at Clover Hill, teachers have met to share out the various strands and programmes of study across our classes to ensure the requirements for the subject coverage have been met. We have ensured the practise of basic skills is embedded throughout the school and throughout many units of work to allow children to grow their expertise and become competent and confident with simple tasks like measuring, cutting joining and shaping. We plan for skills to be developed over the academic year as well as through year groups and the key stages.
Lessons are organised into units of work and the coordinator monitors the progress of such units ensuring appropriate skills and topics are being taught.
Within DT topics, children are encouraged to work individually, in pairs or within small groups. This by nature develops children’s communication skills as well as their ability to work as part of a team learning to share and contribute ideas fairly. Developing the ability to accept critique from others is an important part of our DT work, making products the best that they can be is fundamental.
Wherever possible, we try to create links with outside companies or industry to give children a better understanding of the importance of technology and creativity and how it is essential to thriving businesses. We also try to invite specialist technology teachers in to school (eg Technology Tom) wherever we can to support our work in the classroom.
Impact
We have pupils who enjoy creating a wide variety of products made to specified criteria. Children are able to plan their task and understand and select the resources they require. They are able to choose their methods of working and with confidence create pieces from their initial plans. They are reflective and are able to suggest ways to improve any completed products. Children are aware that this process is what creates the products in the ever increasing technological world around us and that products are constantly being adapted and modified to improve them.
Our children understand the basic principles and importance of a healthy diet and can describe where our food comes from. They have created and prepared food using a range of cooking techniques.
SEND/Inclusion
All provision for pupils with SEND is in line with the school’s SEND Policy.
Equal Opportunities
At Clover Hill Primary School, the curriculum for Design Technology will develop enjoyment of and commitment to stimulating the best possible progress and the highest attainment for all our pupils irrespective of social background, culture, race, gender, differences in ability and disabilities. All our pupils have a secured entitlement to participate in the Design Technology Curriculum and our teaching approaches ensure the avoidance of stereotyping when planning work or organising groups. All the teaching staff agree that when using reference materials, they should reflect social and cultural diversity and provide positive images of race, gender and disability.
Curriculum Map