Design Technology Curriculum Statement
Curriculum Intent
The Design and Technology curriculum (DT) at Humberstone Infant and Junior Academies, is ambitious, broad and offers repeated opportunities for children to work with the design cycle to create innovative products and designs. DT at Humberstone strives to inspire and challenge all children through creating authentic opportunities for critical thinking and problem solving. The curriculum is broken down into key concepts which include: food, mechanisms, structures, textiles and electrical systems, these are revisited frequently so that the children have the opportunity to build upon their prior knowledge, deepening their understanding and progression in each aspect.
The design curriculum begins in EYFS where children use junk modelling, blocks, craft supplies and large scale materials to make various products ranging from puppets and pet homes to garden ornaments and progresses to year 6 where children design and build intricate textile decorations and functioning cam toys. DT is taught discretely each term and we have a bespoke design studio on site with high-quality tools and equipment, so that our pupils experience working authentically as designers. Children build their confidence in working with a wide range of tools and materials to create products for a variety of audiences and purposes. Materials and tools are carefully selected in order to allow the children to progress and refine their skills over time, encouraging the children to become resilient and reflective designers. Lessons in DT are carefully sequenced and structured allowing children to revisit prior learning, explore new knowledge and apply their understanding in response to their own research. Our DT projects go beyond the National Curriculum objectives, we have high aspirations for our children and encourage children to see themselves as designers. Lessons are planned with products in mind so that the children can explore and evaluate existing products and significant works in this field.
The DT curriculum is based on the National Curriculum objectives, and these are broken down further into key concepts, which the children will revisit multiple times throughout their time at school. This ensures consistency and full coverage of all areas of DT. In DT, the children will develop their knowledge in the following areas: food, mechanisms, structures, textiles and electrical systems. Each key area is broken down into relevant practical and disciplinary knowledge that the children will study during their unit of work. Teachers use the DT curriculum route map to ensure essential knowledge and vocabulary is taught and acquired, as well as ensure that prior knowledge is revisited within the sequence and all gaps and misconceptions in learning are responded to. Our curriculum is inclusive and accessible to all, opportunities to build on prior learning regularly support all children to succeed. Outcomes link to prior learning and encourage problem solving, encouraging children to apply what they have previously learned to a new context, purpose and audience. In this way, our DT coverage is rigorous and we aim to encourage the children to think critically and internalise the design principles they have been taught.
DT lessons are carefully planned and sequenced and build towards an ambitious final outcome which is identified through the route map for example, pupils in EYFS design and create shadow puppets, pupils in key stage one design and build toy cars with functioning axles and wheels and in key stage two pupils create textile christmas decoration using computer aided design (CAD). Each DT lesson sequence begins with a prepared design brief and a clear purpose, audience and specification for a final product. Children are encouraged to become designers and develop their final product in accordance with the knowledge they have gained. Teachers use a sequence of: analyse, research, practise, design, make and evaluate to plan each design unit. Each year group will use existing similar products within lesson sequences so that children can evaluate and think critically about the process designers go through.
The DT curriculum specifies the significant engineers, designers and works, which children will study alongside their unit of study, for example, Ada Lovelace, John Boyd Dunlop, the Khalifa building and the Empire State building. Each of these has been specifically chosen to demonstrate excellence in the area of design being studied, and to broaden the children’s experience of what it means to be a designer. Children record their learning in DT booklets which teachers create in accordance with the sequence of lessons for each unit and models of excellence can be found displayed proudly around school and within the DT studio. Children take ownership of the design process through recording their individual responses to their research, evaluations and specifications in these booklets to capture the process a designer goes through to create a final product.
In EYFS pupils explore different materials and joins to create a variety of products through the use of junk modelling, paper and card design and large scale construction outside of the classroom. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils have had the opportunity to develop woodwork skills in the DT studio, build their understanding of freestanding structures and learn about food technology when creating a healthy snack.
By the end of Key Stage 2, monitoring shows that children have an in-depth understanding of what it means to be a designer and engineer in the modern world. They have had experience of working with a wide range of tools and specialist equipment to develop their expertise in creating products in the specialisms of: food, electrical systems, mechanical systems, structures and textiles. Through refining, developing and critiquing their own practice, the children will have created a wide range of durable products fit for purpose and product specifications. Children are able to express their knowledge in DT using subject-specific vocabulary and articulate the design choices they have made and their justifications for doing so. They know a range of designers and engineers as well as significant pieces of architecture relevant to each curriculum specialism.
The impact of DT is measured in a number of ways including, book scrutinies, learning walks, pupil interviews and the analysis of project outcomes that show children’s experience and expertise in each area. Because the children have the opportunity to revisit each DT specialism frequently throughout their time at Humberstone Academy, monitoring reveals that children are able to draw upon prior knowledge with ease as prior learning is committed to long-term memory. All children are challenged to think creatively and respond to the needs of their purpose, audience and specification of their product. In order to stimulate and inspire, pupil outcomes form an integral part of DT and models of excellence are exhibited throughout the school and within the wider community.