Subject Leader: Miss Boughey

“Technology makes possibilities. Design makes solutions.” – John Maeda 

Design and Technology prepares children to deal with tomorrow’s rapidly changing world.

It encourages children to become independent, creative problem solvers and thinkers as individuals and part of a team.

It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond to them by developing a range of ideas and by making products and systems.

Through the study of Design and Technology, at St Mary’s, children combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industry. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate past and present technology, its uses and impacts.

The Design Technology  Curriculum

Early Years Foundation Stage  (Early Learning Goals)

• Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.
• Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.
  Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.
• Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using
• the tripod grip in almost all cases.
• Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery.
•  

Key Stage 1 National Curriculum:
Children should be taught to:

Design

Design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology

Make

Select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing]
Select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics

Evaluate

Explore and evaluate a range of existing products

Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria

Technical knowledge

Build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable explore and use mechanisms [for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles], in their products.

Key Stage 2 National Curriculum:
Children should be taught to:

Design

Use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups

Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design

Make

Select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing], accurately

Select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities

Evaluate

Investigate and analyse a range of existing products

Evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work

Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world

Technical knowledge

Apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures

Understand and use mechanical systems in their products [for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages]

Understand and use electrical systems in their products [for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors]

Apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.

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Helping your child with DT at home

Useful links:

Ten Free Design Technology Activities and Ideas for Parents