Design and Technology
Intent
At Scout Road Academy, we believe Design and Technology is a creative process, involving children in learning about the world we live in. We aim to enable children to become autonomous and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. By engaging in design and technology, children will learn how to think and plan in a logical sequence to overcome problems, thus bringing about change. Our balanced and varied curriculum will allow pupils to use their creativity and imagination to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others needs and values. Through reflection and evaluation of past and present Design and Technology, pupils will begin to develop a critical understanding of its uses, effectiveness and impact on daily life and the wider world.
Implementation
Design and Technology is often linked to the theme being taught within that half term (KS1) and term (KS2). This has obvious benefits, allowing children to gain a broader and deeper understanding of skills and knowledge within a range of subjects enhancing the overall understanding and level of skill. For example, KS1 learn about the importance of the woollen industry to their local area of Mytholmroyd within a history lesson and gain the skill of weaving a piece of cloth within a design and technology lesson. However, some design and technology lessons do not link to the theme of learning at that time; we have made a conscious decision to not compromise quality of lesson over that of fitting to a theme of leaning and vice versa.
We have been lucky to also take part in short blocks of learning which have been offered by local community groups. We see these projects as enhancement and fully embrace the opportunities given to our school and children at that moment in time. Scout Road Academy were recently lucky enough to take part in a ‘Buggy Battles’ competition. This 4-week project wound together IT and design and technology skills to create a very exciting inter-school competition.
At Scout Road Academy we embrace children having the opportunity to enhance their subject knowledge and understanding through project learning. Projects are set to be carried out at home with parental support. Children are invited to bring their projects to school and deliver a prepared presentation to their class sharing their knowledge and allowing their class to pose questions.
Impact
Within design and technology, we strive to prepare children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. We aim to encourage children to become creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. Through the study of design and technology, children combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as of functions and industrial practices. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impact. Our design and technology curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary progression also form part of the units of work.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
- Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
- Images and videos of the children’s practical learning.
- Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
- Marking of work in books.
Progression of skills