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Design Technology

 “Unlocking potential, inspiring success, celebrating diversity

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils at Elmridge will be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an interactive process of designing and making. They will work in a range of relevant contexts and children will be taught how to design, make and evaluate. Over the course of their primary schooling they will develop a bank of technical knowledge.

Design Technology at our school develops children’s skills and knowledge in design, architecture, mechanisms and mechanical systems, textiles, cooking and nutrition, programming and electronics, electrical systems and structures.

Our curriculum will allow pupils to become self -motivated and confident learners, who can work independently and as part of a team. We aim to ensure that learners develop technical and practical competencies as well as the wider skills valued by employers. Our main priority is for learners to be problem solvers who are not afraid of making mistakes. Each unit of work will begin with a design question which will enable pupils to use analytical and investigation skills to solve the challenge they have been set.

Through our innovative curriculum we want children to be passionate to want to become tomorrow’s designers and engineers. Every unit of work links to a designer, engineer, chef or textile designer to highlight to pupils how the skills we are teaching them can be a future career.

Cooking and Nutrition is an integral part of our Design Technology curriculum at Elmridge. It is our aim through cooking at school, children will learn an essential life skill and become competent cooks. Each year group, will spend six weeks a year learning the theory in the classroom as well as practical lessons in our purpose built kitchen facility. Children will learn new skills but will also gain a greater understanding about why food is so important to our health.

Curriculum Intent

Our curriculum aims to inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts. The iterative design process is fundamental throughout our curriculum and is a central thread from Y1 up to Y6. This iterative process encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems. As part of the iterative process, time is built in to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this process. Each unit of work starts with a real designer who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators. The Design Technology curriculum aims to shape tomorrow’s engineers and designers through developing inventing, creating and evaluating skills.

Implementation

Across our school, each Design Technology unit of work begins with studying a relevant, real life designer linked to the project being taught. This aims to inspire children at Elmridge to want to become future designers. Each project also begins with a design questions, which gives children the opportunity to develop problem solving and analysis skills so we can shape tomorrow’s engineers and designers.  Throughout keys stages, skills, prior knowledge are constantly being revisited and consolidated. The revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each lesson. This vocabulary is then included in display materials and additional resources to ensure that children are allowed opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge. Through our lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of Design and Technology and see how it has helped shaped the ever-evolving technological world they live in.

Impact

The impact of using the scheme of work, including display materials, will be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of Design and Technology. The learning environment across the school will be more consistent with design and technology technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners. Annual Design Technology theme days will also raise the profile of the subject across our school. Pupils will understand the iterative process we employ throughout each project we teach, they will also understand the skills they are developing throughout each project. We want to ensure that Design and Technology is loved by teachers and pupils across our school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of skills and understanding, now and in the future. Through studying real life designers, our pupils will consider being designers and engineers in the future.  Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as pre and post assessment grids, evaluation of their own work at the end of projects and end of unit teacher assessments.

Design Technology in Action

Proud to part of the Bright Futures Education Trust
Elmridge Primary School
Wilton Drive, Hale Barns
Altrincham, Cheshire WA15 0JF
CEOP