Intent

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."Steve Jobs

At The Mead Infant and Nursery School, our Design and Technology curriculum provides our children with the skills to be creative and innovative, risk-taking learners. We aim for our children to express their individuality and unique ideas through the design, make and evaluate product cycle. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Our curriculum allows children to design and make products which solve real and relevant problems in a wide range of practical contexts.

Our curriculum values the development of technical knowledge so that children ask and answer questions around how it works. Children are driven to develop their technical knowledge through the deconstruction and evaluation of existing products. Children will apply this knowledge to their design products and will test and evaluate against the design criteria. Our curriculum aims to inspire children to appreciate the real impact design and technology has had and will have on the world around us. We strive for our children to be equipped with the fundamental life skills that will serve them in the future as innovators and creators.

Implementation 

Children begin to explore the built or design and made world in the Early Years and have frequent opportunities to explore aspects of the designed and made world through the indoor and outdoor environment. The learning in Early Years includes planned, purposeful play, both child-initiated and adult-led. Learning environments are carefully planned and resourced to inspire and encourage children to be creative, decision make and develop problem solving skills. Children will engage in playful exploration and experimentation such as, large and small construction, building and block play, role-play, and manipulating materials. Children will engage in dialogue about what their product is, who it is for and will begin to explore the function of their product, whilst experimenting with a range of materials and tools.

The children in Year One continue to build on these skills with increased complexity within their child-initiated play. Children will apply their skills and knowledge of mechanisms, structures and textiles to their own unique design ideas and products, using a range of small construction materials and tools.

In Reception and Key Stage one, Design and Technology is taught through the strands of design, make, evaluate, and is rooted in technical knowledge outlined in the National Curriculum.

Cooking and nutrition is given a particular focus in the National curriculum and this is one of our four key areas that children revisit throughout their time at our school: Cooking and nutrition, Mechanisms/ Mechanical systems, Structures and Textiles.

Impact

Children in the Early Years, are regularly assessed using the checkpoints for the seven areas of learning outlined in the Early Years Statutory Framework, which all hold opportunities for Design and Technology engagement and exploration.

The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. In Key Stage One, each half term, teachers assess pupils against carefully chosen learning objectives that link to the National Curriculum. Lesson plans include guidance to support teachers with formative assessment against the learning objectives for each lesson.

The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary Design and Technology scheme of work is that children will:

•  Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources.
•  Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products.
•  Build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes and products to fulfil  the needs of users, clients, and scenarios.
• Understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipes, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment.
•  Have an appreciation for key individuals, inventions, and events in history and of today that impact our world.
•  Self-evaluate and reflect on learning at different stages and identify areas to improve.
•  Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Design and technology.

 Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Computing