Design Technology
Design and Technology at DWJS: Vision and Intent
At DWJS we have coherently planned sequence of lessons built around the principles of evidence-led practice to ensure progression of knowledge, understanding and skills
required in the National Curriculum. This aims to inspire children through a broad range of practical experiences to create innovative designs which solve real and relevant problems within a variety of different contexts.
The iterative design process is fundamental and runs throughout the tasks. This process encourages children to identify real and relevant problems, critically evaluate existing products and then take risks and innovate when designing and creating solutions to the problems. Time is built in to reflect, evaluate and improve on prototypes using design criteria throughout to support this process enabling pupils to be equipped to successfully think, work and communicate like a designer. Opportunities are provided for children to evaluate key events and individuals who have helped shape the world, showing the real impact of design and technology on the wider environment and helping to inspire children to become the next generation of innovators.
Design and Technology Curriculum Overview: Implementation
The DWJS DT curriculum is based on the CUSP model. The CUSP DT curriculum represents an evidence-informed approach which aims to build children's technical knowledge and understanding of design processes and principles through a broad range of experiences so that they begin to think like designers and engineers. Each year group's curriculum for DT is organised into blocks which cover the key strands of the National Curriculum, including mechanisms, structural design and food technology. Over time, the children have the opportunity to build their holistic design knowledge by working with a range of materials in a variety of contexts to meet clear design goals.
At DWJS, Design and Technology skills and understanding are built into lessons, following an iterative process. However, this is not to say that this structure should be
followed rigidly: it allows for the revision of ideas to become part of good practice and ultimately helps to build a depth to children's understanding. Through the cycle of revisiting and consolidating skills, our lesson plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills, knowledge and challenge. The
revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each lesson and revisited frequently. This vocabulary is then included in display materials and additional resources to ensure that children are allowed opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge.
Current design and technology subject knowledge is always provided within plans to allow the adults working in those lessons to feel confident and supported with the skills and knowledge that they are teaching. Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils to develop a love of Design and Technology and see how it has helped shaped the ever-evolving technological world they live in.
Impact
The impact will be seen across the whole school with an increase in the profile of Design and Technology. The learning environment will be more consistent with design and technology technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners. Whole-school and parental engagement will be improved through the use of design and technology-specific home learning tasks and opportunities suggested in lessons and overviews for wider learning.
At DWJS, we want to ensure that Design and Technology is inspiring for pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of skills and understanding, now and in the future. Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as success criteria grids, jigsaw targets and summative assessments aimed at targeting next steps in learning.