Design & Technology

‘Turn your ideas into reality.’ – Titas Paul

Intent

Aston Clinton School offers an inspiring progression of carefully planned Design Technology lessons to ensure that our pupils cover the objectives and concepts required in the National Curriculum and build on skills, year on year. Our aim is to ensure that children leave our school with a range of practical life skills; learn how to solve real problems; understand the effect of products on people and the environment and most of all recognise and develop their own creativity.

We believe there are two main elements of Design Technology – learning about the world we live in and the way things work, and learning to design, make and evaluate functional products for a particular person or user. At Aston Clinton School each year group covers three DT units per year. Design Technology is often one of a child’s favourite lessons because it is a ‘hands-on’ subject where they can make their own decisions, test out ideas, take risks and produce their very own products, of which they are extremely proud.

Each year, all children will complete one food related unit of work. We believe that instilling a love of cooking in children will open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning about the principles of nutrition and healthy eating along with learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that will enable children to feed themselves and others now and in later life. Through food we are also able to explore other countries and their cultures.

Linking Design Technology with other curriculum areas really brings learning to life. We provide exciting projects which allow opportunities for children to develop not only their designing and making skills but also incorporate English, maths, art, computing and science. For example, children develop their knowledge and understanding of properties of materials which helps in science, and the practice of measuring accurately helps in maths.

We want to prepare children for their future in an ever-evolving technological world. We want them to learn about designing solutions to improve people’s lives, we want them to be able to make better decisions and we want them to understand more about the impact of products on the world.

Implementation

All teachers are given the opportunity to research and develop topics within their own planning as needed and can request additional training if, and when needed.

Knowledge organisers have been developed which outline the key concepts and vocabulary that all children should aim to master. These are in books as well as being shared with parents. Subsequently, a cycle of lessons is created which carefully plan for progression and depth of knowledge over the course of a particular topic. Key facts are explained to the pupils during high quality lesson inputs and are reinforced through a combination of revisiting through teaching and exploring and demonstrating in independent work.

During DT lessons teachers use questioning to assess children’s understanding of what has been taught throughout the lesson and any misconceptions are acknowledged, addressed and explained. In DT lessons, many cross-curricular links are observed. For example: Maths links, during cooking topics, where children are measuring out ingredients, as well as calculating the quantities of different recipes. Instructions are often created as part of the ‘design’ phase, which has a direct link to English. Science knowledge is practiced when children are creating products that contain electrical components.

Impact

Assessment of children's learning in Design Technology is an ongoing monitoring of children's understanding, knowledge and skills by the class teacher throughout lessons. This assessment is then used to make adjustments to support and challenge children.

We ensure that children develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. Pupils build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high- quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users and critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.

They understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook. Children design and make a range of products. A good quality finish is expected in all design and activities made, appropriate to the age and ability of the child.