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Design and Technology at Whittingham Church of England Primary School Intent • Implementation • Impact “Hand in hand we will become kind, collaborative and courageous citizens of our community and the wider world.” Intent At Whittingham C of E Primary School, our Design and Technology curriculum inspires pupils to be creative, practical and resourceful problem-solvers. Rooted in our vision of becoming kind, collaborative and courageous citizens, pupils learn to identify needs, design purposeful products, make safely and evaluate thoughtfully. We follow the National Curriculum and use Kapow as a spine for progression, adapting projects to our rural setting and pupils’ experiences. From early exploration in EYFS to increasingly sophisticated design challenges in Key Stage 2, pupils develop technical knowledge, independence, resilience and an understanding of responsible choices, including sustainability and healthy eating. From the earliest years, children develop curiosity, independence and practical problem-solving through purposeful play, construction, exploration of materials, safe use of tools and discussion of their creations. These experiences provide foundations for the National Curriculum in Key Stage 1. Implementation • Teach a carefully sequenced curriculum through our mixed-age Cycle A and Cycle B plans, revisiting prior knowledge and skills. • Use the iterative design process: investigate, design, make, test, evaluate and refine for a clear user and purpose. • Teach explicit technical vocabulary, with words displayed, discussed and revisited in lessons and topic communications. • Provide practical opportunities across structures, mechanisms, textiles, food and nutrition, and electrical systems and control at Key Stage 2. • Model safe, accurate use of tools, equipment, materials and food-hygiene routines; adapt tasks without lowering ambition for pupils with SEND. • Make purposeful links with mathematics, science, computing, art, Forest School and local sustainability projects while maintaining DT’s distinct subject knowledge. • In EYFS, provide repeated opportunities to construct, join, cut, shape and select materials, practise fine-motor control, talk about what has been made and consider how to improve it. • Across both mixed-age cycles, revisit and deepen structures, mechanisms, textiles and food; teach electrical systems and control in Key Stage 2 as required by the National Curriculum. • In food technology, teach healthy and varied diets, food provenance and seasonality, safe preparation and hygiene. In Key Stage 2, teach pupils to prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques. • Ensure that every project has a clear user, purpose and design criteria, with opportunities to test prototypes and refine products during the design process. Impact • Pupils enjoy designing and making products and can explain whom they are for and how they work. • Children demonstrate progression in technical knowledge, practical accuracy, creative thinking and independent problem-solving. • Pupils use increasingly precise vocabulary, evaluate against design criteria and improve their work in response to testing. • Children work safely, collaborate respectfully, persevere when ideas need changing and make thoughtful choices about materials and food. • We evaluate learning through questioning, pupil voice, observation, design work, completed products and assessment against planned knowledge and skills. • Pupils can recall prior technical learning and explain how their designing, making and evaluation have become more precise and independent over time. • Evidence is drawn from pupil discussions, design sketches, prototypes, finished products, practical observation and evaluation against agreed criteria; the quality of a finished product alone is not used as the measure of achievement. • Children with SEND and disadvantaged pupils access ambitious DT learning through appropriate adaptations, while retaining opportunities for independence and challenge. |
