Design and Technology

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

 Steve Jobs

Intent 

At Mattersey Primary School, our Design and Technology curriculum aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who are developing an understanding of the impact of Design and Technology on daily life and the wider world. Our intent is to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for Design and Technology, ensuring pupils appreciate the product design cycle through the areas of: Designing, Making, Technical Knowledge and Food Technology. 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.

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in Design and Technology, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. We are incorporating the ‘Kapow Primary’ scheme to support our teaching in this subject, which bases it’s curriculum on the three main stages of the design process: design, make and evaluate. Each stage of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge which encompasses the contextual, historical and technical understanding required for each strand. Cooking and nutrition has a separate section, with a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality.

Our Curriculum organises the Design and technology attainment targets under 4 areas:

• Design
• Make
• Technical Knowledge
• Cooking and Nutrition (Food Technology)

A key part of this is the evaluation of the process and our pupils will develop their ability to evaluate and improve their own work. Kapow Primary’s Design and Technology scheme has a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these strands across each year group.

Impact

At Mattersey Primary School we strive to prepare our pupils to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. We aim to encourage pupils to become creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of the team. Pupils learn to be passionate and excited by the designing and making of products, including working with, preparing and tasting food. Learning is assessed through the analysis of the pupil’s ability to design, make, evaluate and improve their own work. Pupils should leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society.

 Here are the documents to show the progression of Design and Technology from EYFS through to Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2:

Great Mattersey Bake Off!

Pupils in the Hive Class developed their learning in Food Technology by holding a Bake Off competition. They had to evaluate recipes then choose a recipe for a biscuit, design their biscuit and then make it. Mrs Wilson really enjoyed being judge and the entries were superb! Well done to Emily and Harry who were the overall winners. 

Great Fire of London Project

Pupils in the Burrow Class learnt about the Great Fire of London and then used their design and making skills to construct their own Tudor houses- choosing and measuring materials to use in their models. The pupils were really CURIOUS to learn about the buildings and demonstrated excellent TEAMWORK in their partnerships to design, build and paint their models. 

Anglo Saxon Project 

As part of their work on the Vikings and Anglo Saxons, Hive Class pupils designed houses in the style that Anglo Saxons would have lived in, producing a plan, designing the product to look authentic and choosing material for its appearance and suitability. What was particularly good about this project was the pupils' TEAM WORK and ENTHUSIASM- key things that matter at Mattersey.