At Horsforth Newlaithes Primary School we aim to provide children with a Design and Technology curriculum that is relevant in our rapidly changing world. We want to expose the children to a broad range of architects, designers and engineers that reflect the diversity of our local community and the wider world. Through our high quality teaching we give our children opportunities to build and apply knowledge, understanding, vocabulary and skills in order to design and make high quality products that solve real and relevant problems. We want our children to be able to learn to think and intervene creatively to solve problems, both as individuals and as part of a team. At Newlaithes we aim to embed the ‘think, make, break, repeat’ iterative design process into our Design and Technology lessons to ensure our children are thinking critically and developing resilience. Throughout their time at school, the children will be exposed to a wide range of media and will develop their technical knowledge by exploring structures, mechanical systems, electronic processes, computer programming, textiles and food.

Implementation:

At Newlaithes, Design Technology is delivered as a discrete subject and, wherever possible, cross curricular links are formed. Design Technology links well with many other subjects, such as Art, Maths and Science and teachers carefully plan these links to ensure they are meaningful. In KS1, DT is often linked to imaginary community learning to inspire and stimulate children. To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in Design and Technology, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Teachers use the progression milestone document to ensure the curriculum is covered and the skills/knowledge taught is progressive from year group to year group. The skills are grouped into threshold concepts: master practical skills; design, make, evaluate improve and take inspiration from design through history. Threaded through our curriculum are a series of knowledge categories to underpin the curriculum: mechanisms, structures, textiles and food. Teachers may use the Chris Quigley compendium units of work as a guide, but also allow themselves the creative freedom to add their own ideas too, providing the skills and technical knowledge are taught. The DT long term plan is carefully organised so that units are repeated and built upon to ensure these skills and knowledge are embedded. KS1 will experience units on structures, mechanisms, textiles and food. Lower KS2 will experience units on structures, levers and pneumatics, textiles, paper circuits and food and upper KS2 will do structures, cams and pulleys, electronic motors, textiles and food. All these units will be taught safely, following appropriate risk assessments and guidance.

Early Years have created their own long term plan based on the Early Years Framework and is mapped out to consider the needs of their children, as well as the curriculum drivers of the school. Staff in Early Years have a good knowledge of how the key ELG’s and CofEL that link to Design and Technology feed into the National Curriculum. In reverse, staff in KS1 and 2 understand how EYFS lays the foundations for progression in Design and Technology throughout school.

Lessons in Design and Technology at Newlaithes follow the structure- research, design, make and evaluate. We believe that evaluation is crucial throughout the whole process, with the iterative design process ‘think, make, break, repeat’ present throughout lessons, not just at the end of a unit.

Independent Learning Time (ILT) allows children in KS1 and EYFS to carry out their own lines of enquiry and child-initiated projects, supported by adults. Many children choose Design and Technology activities during ILT and are able to further embed skills already learnt, such as using scissors or joining techniques. Children often challenge themselves to acquire new skills and knowledge during ILT and are able to teach their peers what they have learnt.

We aim for all children at Newlaithes to be competent designers and to reach the expected standard in DT at the end of each year. Our curriculum ensures that children develop an interest in and a love of DT which enables them to be effective learners throughout their journey at Newlaithes and fully prepared for the next stage of their technology education.

We have developed our DT curriculum based on the National Curriculum, identified the key skills and knowledge which we want children to learn and consequently make judgements against this criteria during and at the end of the year enabling us to measure the impact teaching and learning has. The majority of assessment which takes place is formative assessment allowing teachers to adapt their planning to match the needs of the children.

The DT subject leader monitors the impact of the DT curriculum through protected monitoring time during which they complete a range of activities: lesson observations; scrutiny of planning and work; speaking to staff and children and analysing assessment data (introduced summer 2022). This process is quality assured by the Senior Leadership Team and agreed actions are added to subject leader action plans.