Design and Technology

Using Design and Technology (DT), the children will leave Foulds being able to express their curiosity and creativity through a varied and diverse range of projects.

Across the school, challenge is an imperative part of DT. The ability to problem solve, reflect and evaluate is essential in our teaching and learning of the subject. We encourage the children to assess not only the strengths of their own and others’ ideas, designs and products, but also to view things from a critical and constructive perspective, opening themselves up to weaknesses too. We challenge them to understand how to continually improve and develop - in their thinking, planning and constructing - and to understand the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ behind this. As they go through the school, they will be able to apply these skills to a range of relevant contexts, paving the way for them to adapt to an ever changing world.

Every unit taught will encourage the children to - both individually and as part of a team - develop their character and skills to work in new ways, both inside and out of the classroom. They will learn to listen to others, contribute their own thoughts and ideas, as well as give and receive constructive feedback.

The reference to and recognition of significant individuals, such as designers and engineers, in our DT curriculum ensures the children are exposed to a diverse set of role models from different walks of life.

We aim to see the children leave Foulds having developed the knowledge, skills, understanding and character laid down in our DT curriculum, to go into the wider world as resilient, resourceful individuals.

DT is taught in blocks maximising engagement and momentum with projects. During the block, we follow the same cycle within each topic:

• Activating prior knowledge and introducing new information surrounding the topic. Introducing the problem to be solved and the purpose of the topic with the proposed end product. This sparks the children’s curiosity and lays the pathway for the challenge.
• Investigating and exposure (materials, ingredients, techniques, tools etc.). Making prototypes to experiment with.
• Planning and designing our own product to meet the specification.
• Constructing. During this stage, children are given the choice of range of tools and materials to choose from freely. 
• Evaluating our constructed product against a design criteria. 
• Further up the school, the evaluations for both final products and earlier prototypes, lead to modified designs and improvements made to products.

Each of these steps should be rooted in technical knowledge and vocabulary. 

This is monitored throughout all year groups by the DT lead, alongside professional discussion with teachers and through Pupil Voice. 

We plan using the National Curriculum which we enhance using our DT Subject Progression Grid, to build upon and continually develop the necessary skills as the children go through the school. Whilst our DT covers the statutory obligations of the National Curriculum, we tailor it to motivate our intake of pupils at Foulds to make it relevant, motivating and meaningful to their experiences and interests. We often capture this through themed learning, making explicit cross-curricular links to coinciding Science, Literacy, Computing, Art and Maths lessons. For example, fascinated and captivated by Space, astronauts and moon landings, Key Stage One ‘explore and use mechanisms’, through designing and creating our own Lunar Rover space buggies, fit to move backwards and forwards and roam over turbulent surfaces, using the children’s intense curiosity surrounding this subject to deliver a highly successful creative project.   We then use these in Scientific enquiry lessons, measuring the distance they travel when released from a ramp.

Within the wider community, we have developed links with local schools to extend our children's opportunities, giving them access to a wider range of tools, materials, working environments and end products to inspire and excite.