Patterdale Design and Technology Curriculum

INTENT

At Patterdale C of E Primary School, Design and Technology is an inspiring, creative and practical subject that enthuses and motivates all learners.  Children at our school are not afraid to take risks and enjoy ‘learning through doing’ with a hands-on approach. 

We encourage children to be imaginative whilst designing and making purposeful products that solve real and relevant problems. We believe it is vital that all children have the opportunity to use a variety of tools, equipment and techniques that enables them to gain practical skills they can use confidently throughout their life in an increasingly technological world, while also being able to understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook. They will be able to critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.

Design and Technology encourages children's creativity and encourages them to think about important issues.

We don’t just learn in the classroom, but also outdoors and at Forest School.

TEACHING MIXED AGE CLASSES

The children are taught in mixed age classes over 2-4 year rolling program. Children are taught in mixed age classes. Design and Technology topics are planned on a 2- or 4-year cycle, to meet the requirements of the national curriculum, revisit core concepts and ensure progression. When teaching a unit, teachers use formative assessment and the Design & Technology progression of skills document, to adapt their teaching, so as to build on solid foundations and fill any learning gaps.

CONTENT

At Patterdale C of E School we follow the CUSP Design and Technology curriculum which is organised into blocks with each block covering a particular set of disciplines, including food and nutrition, mechanisms, structures, systems, electrical systems, understanding materials and textiles. Vertical progression in each discipline has been deliberately woven into the fabric of the curriculum so that pupils revisit key disciplines throughout their Primary journey at increasing degrees of challenge and complexity.

In addition to the core knowledge required to be successful within each discipline, the curriculum outlines key aspects of development in the Working as a Designer section. Each module will focus on promoting different aspects of these competencies. This will support our teachers in understanding pupils’ progress as designers more broadly, as well as how successfully they are acquiring the taught knowledge and skills.

Working as a Designer

• Design: The art or process of deciding how something will look or work
• Make: Create something by combining materials or putting parts together.
• Evaluate: Form an opinion of the value or quality of something after careful thought.
• Apply: Use something or make something work in a particular situation

In Early Years, pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult led activities. Child interests are also explored when they arise and are supported through planning. 

ASSESSMENT & MONITORING

Evaluation is a fundamental part of the design process and we encourage children to adapt and improve their products, helping them to become innovative and resilient learners who positively learn through making mistakes.

Children are assessed at the end of each unit based on the unit question.