Kirkheaton Primary School

At Kirkheaton Primary School, we aim to provide a high quality, practical Design Technology education which engages, inspires and challenges pupils. We aim to equip them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, take risks, become resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. 

We expect children to think critically, solve problems independently as well as working as a team, and to develop a more rigorous understanding of design and technology. We anticipate that children will reflect, evaluate past and present design technology, its uses and effectiveness and how design and technology shapes our history and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

Children will take inspiration from engineers, designers, architects and chefs and use their own creativity and imagination to ignite their learning and relate the design of their products to the real world. At Kirkheaton, the Design and Technology curriculum combines skills, knowledge, concepts and values to enable children to tackle real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. It can be found in many of the objects children use each day and is a part of children’s immediate experiences.

The Design & Technology curriculum at Kirkheaton aims to improve analysis, problem solving, capability and evaluation skills, and enables children to build key foundation knowledge and concepts, whilst providing links to other disciplines such as Mathematics, Science, Engineering, Computing and Art. 

We give breadth by using the scheme of work ‘Projects on a Page’ and deliver the knowledge, understanding and skills from the four aims of the National Curriculum:
•    Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.
•    Build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users.
•    Critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.
•    Understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

The teaching and implementation of the Design and Technology curriculum at Kirkheaton Primary School is based on the National Curriculum. Design and Technology projects follow a design, create and evaluate pathway with many projects being cross-curricular allowing children to explore subjects at a greater depth.

Design

Children are taught to:

• Research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups.
• Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, pattern pieces and computer-aided design (depending on year group)

Make

• Select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks, such as cutting, shaping, joining and finishing, accurately.
• Select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities. Evaluate
• Investigate and analyse a range of existing products.
• Evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work.
• Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world Alongside the design, make and evaluate process, teachers will communicate and encourage the use of a strong technical knowledge.

In line with the assessment policy, ongoing formative assessments related to the key skills provide evidence for a summative assessment at the end of each unit of work. A level of attainment is made at the end of each key stage.

We believe this world needs adults who are prepared to take risks without fear of failure and who are critical thinkers. Without a creative, imaginative education, we would not produce creative, innovative adults to become ground breaking engineers, architects, technicians, inventors and designers. Our Design and Technology curriculum guarantees that the quality of teaching and learning is high and, as a result, the children are keen to learn new skills working hard to perfect them. These vital skills will prepare our children for life outside and beyond the school environment. Children leave Kirkheaton Primary School with not only a wealth a knowledge and a variety of experiences, but also a creative flare. 

 We measure and assess the impact of the DT curriculum and       children’s progress through the following methods:
 - Pupil discussions about their learning (pupil voice).
 - Standards assessed against planned outcomes and threshold   concepts for each topic.
 - Children’s understanding, engagement and application within   lessons. 

 -Evaluating planning, teaching and learning against the six DT  principles that should be in place and evident to ensure that childrem's learning is genuinely design and technology in nature.