Design and Technology

Intent

Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. It helps to prepare children for the developing world and encourages them to become curious and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. At Marlbrook Primary School, 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. We aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as history, mathematics, science, computing and art. 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 and risk-takers.

Implementation

We use a variety of teaching and learning styles in design and technology lessons. Teachers ensure that the children apply their knowledge and understanding when developing ideas, planning, making products and evaluating them.

We do this through a mixture of whole class teaching and individual/group activities. All children’s ideas are treated with respect and they are encouraged to critically evaluate their own work and that of others. They have the opportunity to use a wide range of materials and resources, including ICT.

We teach design and technology to all pupils, whatever their ability, and provide learning opportunities that enable them to make progress. We do this by setting suitable learning challenges and respond to each child’s needs. We strive to support individual needs and enable children to achieve their full potential through appropriate challenge and questioning.

Children are encouraged to think and work independently and collaboratively evaluating, extending and improving their ideas.

Impact

Children will learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they will develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation. 

In design and technology, teachers assess children’s progress by making observations during lessons and discussions, marking topic books and evaluating end products.  Teachers make progress judgements against learning objectives and staged success criteria.

At the end of a topic, children review their own and each other’s work, focusing upon an evaluation of the finished product and how effectively it meets the learning objective.

Due to the practical nature of design and technology, evidence of work undertaken by children will be in the form of teacher’s notes or as a photographic record.  Samples of the design process and end product are also valuable evidence.

Overview