Design Technology

"Pupils are more confident in applying their skills to a range of problems – and not just in mathematics lessons. For example, pupils in Class 4 designed bird boxes to scale before building them in a design-and-technology project."

Ofsted February 2019

Technical capability is essential for your child to live and work in a technical society and the designing and making of products is a desirable activity which can provide fulfilment throughout their life. We therefore aim to develop his or her skills, knowledge and understanding to work with a range of materials and components to make and evaluate products fit for a specific purpose. Your child will develop an understanding of energy and structures and will  become aware of the impact of technology and its contribution to the quality of life.

In KS 1 pupils are taught technology for an hour a week by the class teacher through theme work and it is often linked to foundation subjects like geography, history and science. In KS 2 pupils are taught science as a discrete subject for one hours a week by the classteacher  (sometimes there may be a technology day or afternoon to complete bigger projects). Again the technology topic often links to foundation subjects taught in that term. For more information about how they are linked see the 2-are year plans and termly learning overviews that are sent out to parents. Planbee units are often used as a starting point for lesson sequencing but then are adapted to the specific class with supplementary activities and resources. Assessment is made after discussion with the children, observation of skills and their evaluations of the finished product. This is then recorded on the foundation assessment grid.

See below the design technology objectives taught in each DT topic in each school year.