DESIGN AND TECHNOLGY SUBJECT LEADER PLANNING STATEMENT

Article 29 states:

Education must develop very child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for…their own and other cultures and the environment.

At Rickmansworth Park School, teachers draw from a range of sources to provide a high quality and individualised curriculum for their classes. The curriculum is broad and balanced and all children have the opportunity to be creative and make a product that reflects their own individual interests.

The Design and Technology curriculum allows for the children to Design, Make and Evaluate their own product and to develop their Technical Knowledge, Understanding and Skills when working with Structures, Mechanism, Textiles, Electrical Systems and Food and Nutrition.

All teachers have a clear outline of the Progression in Skills taught across the school for Design and Technology and these are in line with the ‘National Curriculum End of Year Expectations’ for Key Stage One and Key Stage Two.

Wherever possible the curriculum is enriched with hands on opportunities, visits and visitors to the school.

What makes our Design & Technology curriculum exceptional?

1. It is underpinned by aims, values & purpose.

Article 29 UN Convention of Rights of the Child: Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

Our school principles are:

*To provide an education which develops the whole child.

*To provide a broad and balanced curriculum with a strong focus on enrichment opportunities.

*To teach children to understand their own rights and to respect the rights of others. 

2. It develops the whole person – knowledge, skills, understanding & attitudes.

Design and Technology develops the whole person as the children have the opportunity to Design, Make and Evaluate a product that is meaningful and purposeful to them.

The children develop their skills, technical knowledge and understanding in:

*Structures

*Mechanism

*Textiles

*Electrical Systems

*Food and Nutrition

3. It is broad and balanced.

The Design and Technology curriculum is broad and balance throughout the school and all children have the opportunity to be creative and make a product that reflects their interest.

Design and Technology allows for the children to Design, Make and Evaluate their own product and to develop their Technical Knowledge, Understanding and Skills when working with Structures, Mechanism, Textiles, Electrical Systems and Food and Nutrition.

The teachers have a clear outline of the progression in skills taught across the school and they are able to resource their topics, allowing for the skills to be taught and developed.

Wherever possible the curriculum is also enriched with hands on opportunities, visits and visitors to the school.

4. There is clear progression in subject knowledge and skills.

Throughout the school there is a clear progression in knowledge and skills and this is shown in the ‘Design and Technology Progression of skills Document’.

5. It is filled with rich first-hand experiences.

Wherever possible the Design and Technology curriculum is enriched with hands on opportunities, visits and visitors to the school.

As a whole school we take part in a yearly school trip to ‘The Chiltern Open Air Museum’. Throughout the day the children have many opportunities to Design, Make and Evaluate products linked to the individual class theme.

During our ‘Excellence and Enjoyment’ we have a visit from KNEX. The children have lots of fun building making their own models and they also have a go at following a set of instructions to make particular product.

6. It is flexible and responsive to individual needs and interests.

Design and Technology allows for the children to make a product that is of interest to them. The skills are taught and developed in each year group and the children have the opportunity to Design, Make and Evaluate their own individualised product.

The children have the opportunities to work alone, with a partner or in a group. They are supported when by the Class Teacher, Teaching Assistant or Parent Helper.

7. It has an eye on the future and the needs of future citizens.

All areas of Design and Technology will help our future citizens. Having an understanding and some technical knowledge on Structures, Mechanism, Textiles, Electrical Systems and Food and Nutrition will help all children in not only their future lives but in their lives now.

8. It encourages the use of environments and expertise beyond the classroom.

Throughout the school year many classes have the opportunity to experience Design and Technology outside of their classroom environment. We work hard to ensure that the curriculum is enriched with hands on opportunities, visits and visitors to the school.

Our whole school trip to ‘The Chiltern Open Air Museum’ allows the children to use a range of natural resources and to Design and Make their products in and outdoor environment.

9. It makes meaningful links between areas of knowledge across the curriculum.

There are many cross curriculum links for Design and Technology. This allows for the children to have a real understanding about a product that they will be Designing and Making. For example, the children in Year 4 make Ancient Egyptian Collars in textiles which links to their History topic. In Year 3 they make Vegetable Soup and Oatcakes in Food and Nutrition. This also links to their history topic of the Iron Age.

There are also many cross curricular links to History, Geography, Science, RE, Literacy, Maths and Computing

10. It has a local, national and global dimension.

The Design and Technology Curriculum does show a Local, National and Global Dimension.

In Key stage 2 the children spend time researching and looking at design ideas which have been put together all around the world.

Our whole school trip allows for many opportunities of ‘hands on experiences’.

Food and Nutrition allows for the children to make and taste different foods. In Early Years the children enjoy tasting different food linked to the different religious festivals such as:

*Coconut Ice for Diwali

*Sweet Treats for Hanukah

*Pancakes for Shrove’s Tuesday

*Stir Fry Vegetables and Noodles for Chinese New Year

11. It is supported by high quality Subject Leader CPD.

As the Subject Leader I have great passion and enthusiasm for Design and Technology. I have worked hard to ensure that the curriculum is broad and balanced throughout the school, showing a clear progression in skills from Reception to Year 6.  I have shared my passion for the subject with the class teachers and we have discussed the progression of skills for their year group. Together we have shared ideas of how these can be taught to ensure that the ‘End of Key Stage Expectations’ will be met. Wherever possible the curriculum is enriched with hands on opportunities, visits and visitors to the school. I have made sure that there are cross curricular links throughout Design and Technology and that there are links made to the ‘UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’ and that the curriculum is supported by high quality ‘Continuing Professional Development’.

12. SMSC is embedded within the curriculum.

 (See SMSC Subject Statement)

Social, Moral, Spiritual, Cultural Links – D.T.

Spiritual

D.T supports spiritual development by allowing pupils the opportunity to exercise imagination, inspiration, intuition and insight through creativity and risk taking in analysing, designing and manufacturing a range of products. It instils a sense of awe, wonder and mystery when studying the natural world or human achievement. Encouraging creativity allows pupils to express innermost thoughts and feelings and to reflect and learn from reflection, for example, asking ‘why?’, ‘how?’ and ‘where?’.

Moral

D.T supports moral development by raising awareness of the moral dilemmas by encouraging pupils to value the environment and its natural resources and to consider the environmental impact of everyday products. It educates pupils to become responsible consumers.

Social

D.T Supports social development by providing opportunities to work as a team, recognising others’ strengths and sharing equipment. Design Technology promotes equality of opportunity and provides an awareness of areas that have gender issues e.g. encouraging girls to use equipment that has been traditionally male dominated.

Cultural

D.T supports cultural development by encouraging children to reflect on ingenious products and inventions, the diversity of materials and ways in which design technology can improve the quality of life. It investigates how different cultures have contributed to technology and reflects on products and inventions, the diversity of materials and ways in which design can improve the quality of our lives.