Design Technology

Grestone Academy Design & Technology Rationale.

Intent

At Grestone Academy, we value Design & Technology (DT) as an important part of our children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Our School Development Priorities this year include raising standards in Reading, Writing and Maths. DT offers a range of different contexts to enable children to use and apply the skills they are leaning in these priority areas, in creative and practical ways.

We use the Kapow Primary Design and Technology scheme of work, which aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through this scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements. Our Design and Technology scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National Curriculum and the aims also align with those in the National Curriculum. EYFS (Reception) units provide opportunities for pupils to work towards the Development Matters statements and the Early Learning Goals.

Implementation

At Grestone Academy, we use the Kapow Primary Combined curriculum for DT and ART, which allows us to alternate each half term between these subjects. Please take a look at the Combined Long-Term Plan and Combined Progression of Skills here.

Each unit lasts between 4 and 6 weeks, allowing flexibility for teachers to personalise the scheme to the learning needs of our pupils here at Grestone Academy. Using formative assessment and adaptive teaching, teachers are able to re-visit learning to consolidate, before moving on to the next step in the learning sequence.

The National Curriculum organises the Design and Technology attainment targets under four subheadings which are the Kapow Primary strands:

Design, Make, Evaluate, and Technical Knowledge.

Cooking and nutrition is given a particular focus in the National Curriculum and we have made this one of our six key areas that pupils revisit throughout their time in primary school:

• Cooking and nutrition ● Mechanisms/ Mechanical systems ● Structures ● Textiles ● Electrical systems (KS2 only) ● Digital world (KS2 only)

Through Kapow Primary’s Design and Technology scheme, pupils respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in the six key areas.

Each of our key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum. The Kapow Primary scheme is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning. The inclusive lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles and are adapted to suit all learners. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.

Impact

The impact of Kapow Primary’s Scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which can be used at the start and/ or end of the unit. Subject monitoring is undertaken by the DT subject lead, who facilitates reflection on the impact of the scheme with teachers and students alike, to determine the learning and progression taking place.

After the implementation of Kapow Primary Design and Technology, pupils should leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society.