Design & Technology

By the end of year 6, Jesse Gray children will have been INSPIRED to use their creativity and imagination to design and make products to ACHIEVE relevant, real-life CHALLENGEs within a variety of contexts. They will have considered their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They will ENJOY taking risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens of our society.

They will:

Research, generate, develop, model and communicate their own ideas through annotated sketches, prototypes and pattern pieces.
Select from and use a wide range of tools, equipment and materials to enable successful projects which are accurate and functional.
Analyse and evaluate existing products, as well as their own, informing how to improve further.
Know how to create more complex structures, use mechanical and electrical systems and use computer programming to control their products.
In cooking and nutrition, children will understand the principles of a healthy diet to create a variety of savoury dishes. They will understand seasonality, locality and how to plan a meal.

Intent

Design and Technology provides opportunities for students to develop their capabilities, in which each children is INSPIRED and CHALLENGED, where they ENJOY what they’re learning and they are able to ACHIEVE what they have planned.
We teach it with a creative approach; combining different subjects together. It involves the creative application of the principles of science, computing, and mathematics (STEM subjects) and art to solve practical, real-life problems. We aim to provide the opportunities, experiences and skills to enable our students to be successful problem solvers, risk-takers and innovators in their future lives.
At Jesse Gray, we’re big believers in promoting resilience through our projects – if at first you don’t succeed, evaluate, and try again! Our core school values of resilience, positivity, patience and responsibility are embedded throughout our teaching of design and technology. The process of creative thinking and innovation inspires students, which in turn breeds a self-confidence and belief in their abilities.

Implementation

Design and Technology is a crucial part of school life and learning, valuing and celebrating students’ creativity and problem solving capabilities. At Jesse Gray, this is implemented through:

A whole school, yearly overview of the DT curriculum which allows for progression across year groups in the different areas of DT (textiles, mechanisms, structures, food and electrical systems).
Teachers are given ownership and flexibility to plan for Design and Technology; teaching projects that are INSPIRING and CHALLENGING for their pupils, which are relevant, ENJOYable and ACHIEVable. The suggested projects in the long term overview are suggestions; and teachers at Jesse Gray have the opportunity to change the outcome of the project to ensure it is pertinent to their class, as long as the skills and knowledge required are taught.
At Jesse Gray, DT can be taught as a block of lessons to allow the time needed for the children to be critical, inventive and reflective on their work, or it can be taught weekly to build up on their making skills. Each project will follow the process of: research, design, make and evaluate. This quality first teaching will enable all pupils to make progress.
Pupils are introduced to our ‘STEM heroes’ - specific designers, chefs, architects etc., which helps to increase the cultural capital from which they can draw in the future.
We celebrate our Design Technology work with displays in the STEM lab, alongside celebrating the outstanding three dimensional creations on display throughout the school.
A range of health and safety skills will be taught related to the tasks undertaken. All food allergies and religious beliefs are observed when preparing food. All staff that are preparing food have Level 2 Food Safety Certificate training.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities as part of their Understanding the World.
Children will showcase their research, design and evaluation work through a project booklet, and practical skills will be shared onto the app Seesaw. All work completed is assessed against the curriculum objectives. KS2 children use computer-aided design as part of their work, using the app Tinkercad.
We link with local businesses to provide real-life inspiration, awe and wonder as to where and how their products can be developed. For example, we are grateful partners with Doughnotts and Wagamamas.

Impact

They will have clear enjoyment and confidence in Design and Technology. We will see that they will then be able to apply their knowledge to other areas of the curriculum. Pupils will develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently. This will enable them to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. They gain a firm foundation of knowledge and skills to see them equipped to take on further learning in secondary school.
Children will have high standards of achievement in their Design and Technology knowledge and practical skills. In Key Stage One and Two, Pupil’s skills and knowledge are assessed both formatively within the lessons, and summatively at the end of each project, against the National Curriculum standards by the class teacher. EYFS pupils' progress and attainment tells us whether each individual child is below expected or has met the Early Learning Goal by the end of Foundation Stage. Pupils will be able to articulate what they have learnt and how they might be able to apply this to real-life scenarios.
We will measure the impact of the above by monitoring the development of skills across year groups. This will be done by looking at the evidence of progression in the work booklets produced and the practical work which will be seen on Seesaw, in addition to the assessment data produced.