Design and Technology
Intent
At Reculver Primary School, we believe that creativity and imagination are vital life-skills and our Design Technology curriculum provides pupils with opportunities to develop these skills and apply them to a number of exciting and engaging practical projects. As they progress through the school, pupils are encouraged to link new knowledge with old, building on their knowledge and skills in a deliberate and meaningful way. At Reculver, pupils return to several important stands in DT in their journey through the school including mechanisms, textiles, structures, cooking and nutrition, mechanical systems and the digital world.
For inspiration, pupils have the opportunity to evaluate past and present design and technology, developing a critical understanding of how aspects of DT impact on daily life both now and throughout history. This can then be applied to evaluating and analysing their own ideas and work, considering where there have been successes and where future improvements can be made. This cycle of plan-do-review equips pupils with important critical thinking skills which can be applied in other areas of learning and life.
DT also provides opportunities for the more holistic development of our pupils. There are opportunities for spiritual development as pupils have the opportunity to marvel at the human achievements which have led to many design and technology advancements; they are encouraged to develop a fascination with how things work; they are encouraged to be creative and imaginative in their design and a period of thoughtful reflection is built into the evaluation process of the design cycle. There are also opportunities for the moral development of pupils as ethical issues related to design are raised, such as the sustainability of materials, the environmental impact of single-use or non-degradable materials and importing food. Cultural development is also nurtured as cultural influences on design over time are considered – as is the impact of culture on food. Likewise, the social development of our pupils is evident in a range of ways: there are opportunities to collaborate with a group towards a shared outcome; decisions are often made as a group; feedback is given to others with consideration of feelings being made; opportunities are created to ‘pitch’ their products to others, developing presentation skills and public speaking and pupils at times need to consider the safety of themselves and others as they work.
DT is an exciting subject with much relevance to the world around us and it encourages our children to become creative problem solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. Please use the link below to our DT Booklet which shows in more detail our enriching DT curriculum and progression map.
Please click on the link below to explore this subject further and look at the long term progression for our children:
