Design & Technology

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At Oxclose Primary Academy we value Design and Technology as an important subject to support and promote creative skills, alongside learning and developing key technological skills.  We feel that it is our role to nurture creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring how this impacts on the world in which we all live and work. 

Our aim is to deliver an engaging and inclusive curriculum, relevant for all of our pupils, which enables them to gain skills and knowledge in design, structures, mechanisms, electrical control and a range of materials, including food.  We want our pupils to be confident in experimenting, practising and enhancing their skills, which will broaden their knowledge and understanding year on year.  

We believe that it is vital for pupils to leave primary school with a wide range of design and technology skills linked to real life projects, which will help to prepare them for their future both in education and employment as well as promote healthy and safe living in their personal lives.  

We are currently in the process of improving our Design & Technology Curriculum and will be incorporating elements of the DT Association into our procedures, with this being fully implemented by September 2022.  

External Visits 

Year 6 visited the Nissan College to participate in the Nissan Monozukuri Caravan Event. The purpose of the day was to introduce children to the world of engineering and to work together as a team.  Examples of activities which the children completed was working in pairs to design and make their own Lego vehicle. Prior to the visit, the children were asked to design a new logo for the event.  

Life Skills 

Some of our pupils, including those in the ARP, a life skills session is timetabled weekly. Within this session, staff complete activities which incorporate elements of DT such as cooking and nutrition. These opportunities give children the opportunity to practise important cooking, preparation and nutrition skills. 

 

Intent

 

 At Oxclose Primary Academy we value Design and Technology as an important subject to support and promote creative skills, alongside learning and developing key technological skills. We feel that it is our role to nurture creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring how this impacts on the world in which we all live and work. 

Our aim is to deliver an engaging and inclusive curriculum, relevant for all of our pupils, which enables them to gain skills and knowledge in design, structures, mechanisms, electrical control and a range of materials, including food. We want our pupils to be confident in experimenting, practising and enhancing their skills, which will broaden their knowledge and understanding year on year. 

We believe that it is vital for pupils to leave primary school with a wide range of design and technology skills linked to real life projects, which will help to prepare them for their future both in education and employment as well as promote healthy and safe living in their personal lives. 

Implementation

 

 Design and Technology is an enhancer subject, which adds to our driver subjects of History, Geography and Science, making clear links, where appropriate. Our Design and Technology Long Term Plan follows the National Curriculum and includes elements of the Focus Education Skills Curriculum. The skills document, adapted to make appropriate for our pupils, identifies knowledge, skills and understanding we want pupils to develop, learn and remember. 

Our Long Term Plan provides age-appropriate projects which ensure children are taught the skills necessary to effectively research, design, make and evaluate a variety of projects, whilst learning and implementing technical knowledge and adhering to instructions for design and technology activities and safety rules. Children are provided with the opportunity to design and make functional products and evaluation is utilised to enable pupils to learn from their experiences. 

To promote deeper learning, we provide an optional and open ended creative homework, design and technology whole school activities such as cultural events and respective clubs e.g. Lego club. Well established links with local organisations such as Nissan, provide valuable opportunities for our children to learn about how innovation combined with modern technology is shaping on our lives. 

Design and Technology is taught each term, with some elements being blocked. Our curriculum is designed to progressively and continuously develop children’s skills and knowledge, which is assessed in lessons, at the end of each unit and across the school year. Pupils will be able to demonstrate mastering design and technology skills and knowledge within the teaching sequence and after the unit has been covered. 

Impact

Pupils will be able to confidently discuss all aspects of the Design and Technology curriculum that they have been covering and will demonstrate skills and understanding within their design portfolio. They will have knowledge of specific technology, show that they can use tools correctly and safely to combine their designing and making skills alongside their knowledge and understanding, in order to construct products that satisfy needs and challenges. 

Pupils will be able to retain the skills and knowledge, and build on this each year to ensure a clear progression of skills. To enable us to measure the impact, the subject manager and senior leaders will use lesson visits, work scrutinies and pupil voice activities across the year.