“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which ones to keep.”

- Scott Adams

Intent

At Firs Primary School – we are designers. It is our aim to give our children opportunities to use their creativity and imagination to design and make a breadth of products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and other’s needs, wants and values. We want to inspire our pupils while they develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.

We focus on building up technical vocabulary, enabling pupils to articulate concepts. We ensure pupils build an awareness of potential risks when designing and making. We have designed a curriculum that asks pupils to be creative in their designing, making and evaluating.

Our chosen vehicle for delivering the design technology programmes of study is Curriculum Maestro.

Our Design and Technology Overview.

Implementation

Our Design Technology curriculum (Cornerstones) offers a broad range of experiences designed to provide pupils with a clear progression of understanding, skills and knowledge. It links to the Design and Technology National Curriculum which outlines the three main stages of the design process: design, make and evaluate. Cooking and nutrition* has a separate section, with a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality.

The National Curriculum organises the Design and Technology attainment targets under five subheadings or strands:

• Design
• Make
• Evaluate
• Technical knowledge
• Cooking and nutrition

Each of the 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 Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum provides a bedrock and supports children’s understanding of Design and Technology through the planning and teaching of ‘Expressive Arts and Design’ and ‘Understanding the World’. This planning considers how design skills range from children’s first ideas developed from first-hand experience of the world in EYFS which will be built upon in KS1 and KS2.  In EYFS, children learn about Design and Technology through first-hand experiences and explore how things are made and how things work through the sharing of books, stories, poems, small world play, role play and visits.

Impact

The impact of this curriculum design will lead to Design Technology being a valued subject. Children at Firs will acquire the skills and knowledge to develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. Knowledge and skills will have developed progressively to not only enable them to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum, but to prepare pupils to

• understand the importance of critique and evaluation and so test their ideas and products and the work of others,
•  become competent designers and innovators in secondary education and as an adult in the wider world / world of work,
• be healthy and to understand how to cook so that they develop this crucial life skill that will enable them to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

By the time pupils leave Firs Primary School, they will have developed the skills, knowledge, and understanding to succeed in Design and Technology in secondary education and beyond with a creativity and imagination to design and make a breadth of products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts.