Design and Technology Curriculum Statement 

Intent

At Ellison Primary Academy, we aim for a high quality design and technology curriculum which engages, inspires and challenge pupils. Our curriculum will equip young minds with the technical knowledge and innovative skills to experiment, risk take and design their own works as a thought-provoking designer. Our curriculum is linked closely with the history of the great designers who influenced the world globally in the past as well as the current innovative designers who imaginative thinking have affected our lives today. As we know design and technology plays a vital role in our lives. We are surrounded by designed and crafted objects which we use and rely on a daily basis. Pupils will consider how the past designers and advances in technology have influenced the present lives of today. We will compare how technology has grown and advanced through the years as it is a unique language of communication. As they explore the great designers of the past and present, the children will develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of design and technology history and will begin to understand the journey through the different periods of design and apply their knowledge in the classroom. Within design and technology, children are able to think creatively and express their own unique style within a celebration of their identity.  

Implementation

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in design and technology, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Design and technology is taught as part of a half-termly or termly topic, focusing on designer knowledge and progressive skills stated in the National Curriculum. Key Stage One children learn about the initial skills of design and technology such as lever design and basic textiles design; Key Stage Two children advance their skills at a greater depth. This has been planned in a chronological order throughout the Key Stage in order to progress our pupil’s skills throughout their Ellison journey. The chosen concepts will be returned to throughout their journey at school, allowing their skills, knowledge and innovative minds to expand and grow. The children will be encouraged to be reflective learner as they follow the process of designing, making and evaluating.  

We use a concept-based curriculum and ensure our units are planned to engage, progress skills and create a love of design and technology in which everyone is a designer. All pupils are encouraged to expand their imagination and curiosity. We draw upon the interactive resources set out by Kapow enabling us to support the development of skills with Design and Technology. Linked closely to our Literacy keys texts, our pupils are able to design, create and expand their knowledge whilst embedded within their current Literacy learning. Our principal aim is to develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in Design and Technology within a creative curriculum.  

Impact

The impact and measure of our Design and technology curriculum is to ensure that children at Ellison Primary Academy are equipped with the progressive skills and knowledge of the importance of design locally and globally. The children will be encouraged to share reasons why they think certain design and technologists created and progressed this subject like they did. They should be able to reflect that everything in our world is designed for a purpose, from the ceramic plate they eat from to the latest technology of the Apple iPhone.  The knowledge that they have gained will enable them to reason with the design and technology curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in which design and technology is so widely relied upon. They will have the awareness of past designs such as significant building to compare to today’s innovative apple IPhone which is celebrated worldwide. The children at Ellison will communicate using their own designer language and their technological skills will be documented within their own working sketchbook from arrival in Reception to leaving in Year 6.