Subject leader:  Simran Ruprai

DT Intent Statement

• At St Francis our design and technology curriculum is designed to prepare children for the developing world.  The subject encourages children to become creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team.  Through the study of challenging and engaging design and technology plan, children combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, in order to design and make a product.  Evaluation is an integral part of the design process and allows children to adapt and improve their product, this is a key skill which they need throughout their life. An ambitious program of Design and Technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators. We feel that the teaching of food and nutrition is of great importance and holds great relevance in current times. For this reason, children will study a food and nutrition unit every year.  By instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

Implementation

• At St Francis our design and technology curriculum is built around essential knowledge, understanding and key skills.  These are broken into year group expectations and show clear continuity and progress.  All teaching of design and technology follows the technology, design, technology/make and evaluate cycle.  The design process should be relevant in context, to give meaning to learning. While making, children should be given choice and a range of tools to choose freely from. When evaluating, children should be able to evaluate their own products against a design criterion.  Each of these steps should be rooted in technical knowledge and vocabulary. All aspect of the process includes a focus on environmental and local impact information, including sourcing recycled and reused resources for the majority of projects as well as growing various ingredients for the cooking the year groups will do throughout the year. Challenging questions and reflections should be used at each stage as well as in the evaluation which will form the basis of the progression from exploration to mastery.