DT at Harlyn

Intent

At Harlyn we believe that Design and Technology gives children the opportunity to apply and strengthen essential skills required in the designing, making and evaluating of an effective product for a given purpose.  Across the year groups, pupils will design and make products that solve real problems within a variety of contexts. Children develop the skills of adaptability and critical thinking through evaluating and reflecting upon the processes and choices they have made. They learn how to take risks and sometime fail, which helps them to become resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in design and technology, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Skills progress as children move through the school. They will often revisit a skill and build upon it e.g. children will sew with simple stiches in year 2 and then sew again in year 6 with a greater range of stitching. Children will experience a range of topics including cooking, textiles, mechanics, construction and structures. Children are assessed against their understanding of the competencies taught and skills gained. Children's vocabulary will be revisited and developed each year as they progress through the Design Technology curriculum.

Impact

Children will have clear enjoyment and confidence in Design and Technology that they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum. They learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.  We ensure the children develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. We encourage the children to use research to inform their ideas and designs. The children build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make prototypes and products for a wide range of users. The children develop the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.  Through DT, children are able to draw upon skills learnt in other subjects to support their learning.

We expect the impact of our teaching to be that children meet age related expectations. These can be seen in the progression document below.