DT

Intent

At St Richard’s, giving children valuable, real-life experiences is at the heart of all we do. Our aim with the teaching of Design and Technology is to provide children with real-life problem-solving experiences, and to provide children with important skills they will be able to utilise throughout their lives.

 By weaving Design and Technology into our Project learning, we allow children to see that what they are designing and making has an important real-life purpose. The process of designing, making and evaluating enables children to be creative with their ideas, find different ways to construct their ideas, working both collaboratively and independently, and to become critical thinkers and problem-solvers.

 Through their Design and Technology lessons, children at St Richard’s become resourceful, confident and creative thinkers. Design and Technology opens up many doors for the children at St Richard’s and is an inspiring and enjoyable subject.

Implementation

Our Design and Technology curriculum is based on our Progression of Skills document which follows the ‘Design, Make, Evaluate’ approach as outlined in the National Curriculum. As children progress through the school, from Early Years to Year 6, they build upon their skills and knowledge of Construction, Mechanisms and Textiles.

 Healthy eating, nutrition and cooking skills are also important parts of the Design and Technology curriculum taught here at St Richard’s. Children learn the importance of hygiene when cooking, as well as how to prepare food safely, with cooking becoming more complex as the children progress through the school, in preparation for life beyond school.

Children draw upon their knowledge of Mathematics, Science, Computing and Art and Design in their Design and Technology learning, which enables them to see the real-life applications of their learning. Additionally, as our Curriculum Intent shows, by embedding our Design and Technology learning into our Project, children see the purpose of what they are making.

 Design and Technology is a creative, child-led, investigative subject at St Richard’s. Children explore their ideas and think critically about how best to solve problems. We provide children with the skills and equipment they need to make quality products. We then coach children through the process of evaluating their final product and the processes involved.

Alongside the teaching of Design and Technology, we also run Design and Technology competitions, where children’s work out of school can be celebrated and evaluated in celebration assemblies.

Impact

The impact of our Design and Technology Curriculum at St Richard’s is far-reaching. Not only do children become creative thinkers and problem-solvers, with skills needed for life beyond secondary school, but they continue to develop a love of learning by seeing how learning can be practical and applicable to all of life.