Curriculum – Design & Technology

Intent

Design and Technology is an inspiring and practical subject; it encourages
children to learn to think and intervene creatively to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team. We encourage children to use their creativity and imagination to design and make products that solve and real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. We aim to, wherever possible, link work to
other subjects such as maths, art and computing. We provide children with opportunities to become innovators and risk-takers.

Implementation

Design and Technology taught at Cockfield Primary School ensures pupils learn
through a variety of creative and practical activities. We believe knowledge, understanding and skills are needed to engage children in an iterative process of designing and making. We encourage children through setting family homework’s to work creatively with their families in order to learn new skills, apply and build on knowledge learnt through school-based learning. This therefore allows them to think outside the box to use a range of resources. We acknowledge children use technology widely outside of school and therefore feel it is our responsibility to ensure children have the knowledge and understanding to enable them to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.

Impact

Through ensuring all children in our school are educated by developing creativeness, technical and practical expertise, it enables them to perform everyday tasks confidently. We imbed this through our curriculum maps specifically planning for a purpose within Design and Technology. We achieve this by thriving to give every opportunity to solve real life problems and to consider alternative materials specific to a particular audience. At the end of each unit, we encourage children to be reflective on their designs. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the
creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.

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