We follow the National Curriculum to deliver Design Technology throughout the school. As a result, we develop our children’s skills and knowledge in design, structures, mechanisms, electrical control, and a range of materials, including food. Our curriculum encourages children's creativity and encourages them to think about important issues.

 

At The Grange, our Design and Technology curriculum helps us to teach Maths and English and indeed other compulsory subjects on the curriculum in a fun manner and put these subjects into context making them easier to digest and more understandable to our children

Design and Technology gives our children the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products. At The Grange, we feel it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring the designed and made world in which we all live and work.

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Our teachers follow the Design and Technology Progression Framework for:

Designing

·         Understanding contexts, users and purposes

·         Generating, developing, modelling and communicating ideas

 

Making

·         Planning

·         Practical skills and techniques

 

Evaluating

·         Own ideas and projects

·         Existing products

·         Key events and individuals

Technical knowledge

·         Making products work

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Cooking and Nutrition

·         Where food comes from

·         Food preparation, cooking and nutrition

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We make sure our children have a clear idea of who they are designing and making products for, considering their needs, wants, values, interests and preferences. The intended users could be themselves or others, an imaginary or story-based character, a client, a consumer or a specific target group.

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Purpose

Our children should be able to clearly communicate the purpose of the products they are designing and making. Each product they create should be designed to perform one or more defined tasks. Pupils’ products should be evaluated through use.

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Functionality

Our children design and make products that work/function effectively in order to fulfil users’ needs, wants and purposes. In D&T, it is insufficient for children to design and make products which are purely aesthetic.

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Design Decisions

Children need opportunities to make their own design decisions. Making design decisions allows them to demonstrate their creative, technical and practical expertise, and use learning from other subjects. When making design decisions our children decide on the form their product will take, how their product will work, what task or tasks it will perform and who the product will be for.

 

Innovation

When designing and making, our children need some scope to be original with their thinking. Projects that encourage innovation lead to a range of design ideas and products being developed and are characterised by engaging open-ended starting points for learning.

Authenticity

Pupils should design and make products that are believable, real and meaningful to themselves and others.