INTENT​

At The Whitchurch Church of England Academy, we aim for our curriculum to be inspiring, rigorous and practical. We encourage children 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, wants and values.

 

Our children transition through a rigorous cycle of reserach, design, make and evaluate which results in the children producing a high quality final product for a range of purposes. The children are also given opportunities to reflect upon and evaluate past and present design technology, its uses and its effectiveness and are encouraged to become innovators. This evaluation stage encourages our children to become self-regulated learners through identifying where designs could be improved.

 

Oracy is also a key strand within the subject and we aim for our children to confidently discuss their design using subject specific language and vocabulary. We hope that this inspires pupils to pursue Design & Technology, either though further study or as future career.

 

D&T KEY KNOWLEDGE

To develop the children's understanding, they are introduced to key areas in a sequential way, with years groups building on the learning from previous years.

 

Each year group has progressional targets to work towards to ensure they are making progress in both their knowledge and skills. Teacher assessment and feedback is given at the end of every lesson and this assessment is then documented to inform the next block of planning. 

 

CULTURAL CAPITAL

Cultural Capital is the collection of skills and experiences which children need to help them thrive in the wider world. 

 

Our Design & Technology provision (including out of school trips linked to Design and Technology topics) aims to give the children a diverse set of encounters and skills which will be valuable to them long after they leave Year 6. These include:

 

·       Visiting the allotment and using the crops in our designs.

·       Sculpture trails.

·       After school clubs.

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CROSS CURRICULAR LINKS

The skills and knowledge the children use in Design & Technology complement those in the rest of the curriculum. These are just some of the ways that Design & Technology links to other areas of their study:

READING

Before designing children are encouraged to research and read into the product that are already available.

WRITING

At the end of every design process children produce a written evaluation. Within topics there are also opportunities to write instructions and recipes.

MATHS

Children are encouraged to implement key skills used within mathematics such as measurement. 

COMPUTING

Children have the opportunity to use a range of apps to create their designs. Children use PurpleMash, and TinkerCAD 

SCIENCE

Children have the opportunity to implement their knowledge of circuits and healthy living into their designs.

ART

Children use their drawing skills to produce detailed designs.

PE

Children develop their understand of a healthy lifestyle through creating healthy recipes.