Design & Technology
VISION
Our vision is for Design and Technology to give children the skills to represent their own ideas and thoughts, discovering ways to use and purpose materials and media through original thinking.
INTENT
At St Albert the Great, we use a coherently planned sequence of design and technology lessons using the Twinkl planning scheme to help teachers ensure they have progressively covered the knowledge, understanding and skills required in the National Curriculum. The aim is to inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts. The iterative design process is fundamental and runs throughout the planning. This repetitive process encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems. Time is built in to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this process. Opportunities are provided for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.
IMPLEMENTATION
Design and Technology skills and understanding are built into Twinkl lessons, following an iterative process. However, this is not to say that this structure should be followed rigidly: it allows for the revision of ideas to become part of good practice and ultimately helps to build a depth to children’s understanding. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, the plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills, knowledge and challenge. A specific series of lessons should be used for each key stage, which offer structure and narrative but are by no means to be used exclusively, rather to support planning. The revision and introduction of key vocabulary is
built into each lesson. This vocabulary is then included in display materials and additional resources to ensure that children are allowed opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge. Use of the adult guides and accurate design and technology subject knowledge are recommended and provided within lessons to allow the teacher and adults working in those lessons to feel confident and supported with the skills and knowledge that they are teaching. Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of Design and Technology and see how it has helped shaped the ever-evolving technological world they live in.
IMPACT
The impact of using the full range of Twinkl resources, including display materials, should be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of Design and Technology. The learning environment across the school should become more consistent with design and technology technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners. Whole-school and parental engagement could be improved through the use of design and technology-specific home learning tasks and opportunities suggested in lessons and overviews for wider learning. We want to ensure that Design and Technology is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of skills and understanding, now and in the future. Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons and summative assessments aimed at targeting next steps in learning.