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Design Technology Policy
This policy document outlines the purpose, the nature of delivery and assessment of design technology taught and learnt at Sy Mary’s and St Patrick’s School. The implementation of the policy is the responsibility of the Headteacher, subject leader and all the teaching staff.
Aims and Objectives
Design and technology prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. Creative thinking encourages the children to become autonomous and creative problem solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond by developing ideas and eventually making products and systems. Through the study of design and technology they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industrial practices. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impacts. Design and technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators.
The aims and objectives are:
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To develop imaginative thinking in children and to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making.
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To enable children to talk about how things work, and to draw and model their ideas.
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To encourage children to select appropriate tools and techniques for making a project, whilst following safe procedures.
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To explore attitudes towards the made world and how we live and work within it.
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To develop and understanding of technological processes, products, and their manufacture, and their contribution to our society.
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To foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in design and making.
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To encourage children to work individually or as part of a team.
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To enable the children to evaluate their work in a constructive manner.
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Teaching and Learning Style
The school uses a variety of teaching and learning styles in design and technology lessons. The principal aim is to develop children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in design technology. Teachers ensure that the children apply their knowledge and understanding when developing ideas, planning and making products and then evaluating them. We do this through a mixture of whole class teaching and individual /group activities. Within lessons we give children the opportunity to both work on their own and to collaborate with others, listening to other children’s ideas and treating these with respect. Children critically evaluate existing products, their own work and that of others. They have the opportunity to use a range of materials and resources, including ICT.
In all classes there are children of differing ability. We recognise the fact and provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenges of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies:
In all classes there are children of differing ability. We recognise the fact and provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenges of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies:
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Setting common tasks that are open ended and can have a variety of results.
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Setting tasks of increasing difficulty.
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Providing a range of challenges through the provision of different resources.
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Using additional adults to support the work of individual children or small groups.
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Design and Technology Curriculum Planning
Design and technology is a foundation subject in the national curriculum. Our school uses the national scheme of work as a basis for its curriculum planning in design and technology. We carry out the curriculum planning in Design and Technology in three pases: long term, medium term and short term.
The long term plan maps out the units covered in each term during the key stage. The design technology subject leader works thisout in conjunction with teaching colleagues in each year group.
Our medium term plans give details of each unit of work for each term. They identify learning objectives and outcomes for each unit, and ensure an appropriate balance and distribution of work across each term.
Class teachers complete short term planning for each design and technology activity. These list the specific learning objectives for each lesson. The class teacher keeps these individual plans and the subject leader discusses them on an informal basis.
The Foundation Phase
We encourage the development of skills, knowledge and understanding that help reception children make sense of their world as an integral part of the school’s work. As the reception class is part of the foundation stage of the National Curriculum, we relate the development of the children’s knowledge and understanding of the world to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals. These underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five. This learning forms the foundations for later work in design and technology.
We provide a range of experiences that encourage exploration, observation, problem solving, critical thinking and discussion. These activities, indoors and outdoors, attract the children’s interest and curiosity.
Contribution of Design and Technology to Teaching in Other Curriculum Areas
Language
Design and technology contributes to the teaching of language in our school by providing valuable opportunities to reinforce what the children have been doing during their Language lessons. Discussion, drama and role play are important ways that we now employ for the understanding that people have different views about design and technology. The evaluation of projects requires children to articulate their ideas and to compare and contrast their views with those of other people. Through discussion children learn to justify their own views and clarify their design ideas.
ICT
We use ICT to support design and technology teaching when appropriate. Children use software to enhance their skills in designing and making, and use draw and paint programs to model ideas and make repeating patterns. They use data bases to provide a range of information sources.
Personal, Social and Health Education
Design and technology contributes to the teaching of personal, social and health education. We encourage the children to develop a sense of responsibility in following safe procedures when making things. They also learn about health and healthy diets. Their work encourages them be responsible and set targets to meet deadlines, and they also learn through their understanding of personal hygiene, how to prevent disease from spreading when working with food.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development
The teaching of design technology offers opportunities to support the social development of our children through the way we expect them to work with each other in lessons. Our groupings allow children to work together, and give them the chance to discuss their ideas and feelings about their own work and the work of others. Through their collaborative and co-
Teaching Design and Technology to Children with Special Needs
At our school we teach design and technology to all children, whatever their ability. Design and technology forms part of the curriculum policy, to provide a broad and balanced education to all children. Through our design and technology teaching we provide learning opportunities that enable all children to make progress. We do this by setting suitable learning targets.
Assessment and Recording
Teachers assess children’s work in design and technology by making assessments as they observe them working during lessons. They record the progress that the children make by assessing the children’s work against the learning objectives for their lessons. At the end of a unit of work, teachers make a judgement against the National Curriculum levels of attainment and record the children’s progress on the Classroom Monitor.