Intent

D&T is often one of a child’s favourite subjects. Children like making decisions for themselves and doing practical work. They love creating products they can see, touch and even taste for themselves. They feel proud to have done so.  The DT curriculum at Murdishaw West Primary School reflects this. We give children the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products. We nurture creativity and innovation through design and by exploring the designed and made world in which we all live and work. 

Our children acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of materials and components, mechanisms and control systems, structures and health and safety.  

Design and Technology education helps develop children’s key transferable skills like collaborative working and problem-solving as well as acquiring knowledge in design, materials, structures, mechanisms and electrical control. They are encouraged to be creative and innovative and are actively taught to think about important issues such as sustainability and enterprise.  

There are three core components within design and technology that our projects always follow:  

• Investigating and evaluating existing products  

• knowledge and skills development activities eg. Stitching, making switches, using hacksaws  

• Design and make activities that consider purpose, specification and user.  

Through this scaffold our pupils make creative, purposeful and pleasing products.

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Implementation

Our D and T curriculum and its associated breakdown of skills, is designed to instil in our children the key concepts of design, make, evaluate and also to impart vital technical knowledge.

DT is taught in all year groups at Murdishaw West and classes enjoy a minimum of three design and make projects a year, ensuring DT is evident in our classrooms throughout the academic year. DT projects are supported by a comprehensive resource bank that allows our teachers to fulfil national requirements as well as allowing for pupils’ individualism and creativity

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Impact

We observe and measure the impact of the delivery of our DT curriculum in a number of ways:

• Lesson observations

• Pupil voice interviews

• Evaluation of finished products

Progress is assessed formatively in line with the objectives of our Progression of Skills documents. Such assessments inform end-of-year teacher assessments and allow us to track progress.

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Design & Technology Year Group Overviews

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