At St Helena’s C of E primary school, our design technology (DT) curriculum hopes to inspire pupils to be curious and creative thinkers, unlocking potential in all. It ensures that all pupils flourish through enduring challenge, developing their wisdom and confidence to think critically, ask questions, and be able to evaluate and explain their ideas. Our DT curriculum will support children to use their creativity and knowledge of how things work to design, make and evaluate their work. Our curriculum allows children to work collaboratively and independently, supporting children to develop respect for others’ ideas while providing an opportunity to learn from each others’ mistakes.

Our DT curriculum is delivered through purposefully chosen DT projects, through the support of the Kapow scheme, enhanced and personalised to meet the needs of all learners at St Helena’s. DT in EYFS is underpinned by the Expressive Arts and Design objectives as set out in our personalised EYFS Curriculum. Our St Helena’s EYFS Curriculum relates to the objectives as set out in the Early Learning Goals, with clear progression from our littlest of learners (aged 3) to our end of Reception children.

• The DT long-term plan has been developed to ensure that DT skills are well developed and revisited through our spiral curriculum to ensure a good coverage of skills over each phase of education. This ensures that children are constantly building upon previous learning and are able to expand their knowledge and understanding of problem solving, designing and constructing different products.
• All learners are given a variety of real life products to explore in great detail, expanding their knowledge of how they look and work, allowing children to evaluate products against their design criteria and purpose.
• For each project, all learners follow the design-make-evaluate process, allowing all learners time to reflect upon their design and products and think of ways that they could be improved or adapted.
• Teachers support and challenge all learners to create purposeful project of high-quality.
• Children are given a design brief to put the need for the product in context. Where possible, teachers ensure that the brief is linked to another area of their learning or has relevance to the children to inspire their imagination and eagerness to create and problem solve.
• Assessment of skills and knowledge happens on a lesson by lesson basis and this information is used to inform future lessons and identify ‘high flyers’ in particular strands of DT. Also, any children that may require additional support.
• In addition, through the Kapow scheme, children will be asked to complete a ‘quiz’ at the beginning of each unit of work and then again for comparison at the end of the unit.
• Safety is explained and modelled at the start of and throughout each project, including food hygiene instructions.
• To inspire the next generation of designers and technologists, local and wider career opportunities celebrated and explored throughout school.

As a Year 6 designer and technologist transitioning to secondary school, we aspire that pupils will have gained knowledge and understanding of different skills and techniques required to problem-solve through designing and creating a variety of products using a safe approach. They will have an understanding of the cross curricular elements within the subject and the importance of skills learnt in other areas of the curriculum and how they aid the design and make process, as well as how these techniques and skills will aid them in future life and learning.