Design Technology

Design Technology prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. The subject encourages children to become creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and eventually design and make products that solve real and relevant problems. We know that high-quality design technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.

We want children to become creative thinkers and problem solvers. Design Technology requires many different skills and we enable children to work creatively and with purpose. First, we want children to consider and evaluate design technology from the present and the past, reflecting particularly upon its uses and impacts. We teach children the hone a range of practical skills and a knowledge of materials and processes. Finally, we give children the chance to solve practical problems in an imaginative and productive way. This teaching pattern prepares children to take part in the development of our rapidly-changing world.

Our learning aims:

In Key Stage 1 children will learn, through a range of relevant contexts:

to design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria, and communicate their ideas in a variety of ways.
to select, and safely use, appropriate tools and materials and develop their practical skills when building structures and exploring mechanisms.
to explore and evaluate their own and existing products.
to know where food comes from and use the principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare food.

In Key Stage 2 children will learn, through a range of relevant contexts:

to research and design purposeful, functional, appealing products aimed at individuals and groups and communicate their ideas in a variety of ways including annotated sketches.
to select from a wider range of tools, materials and components to help them build more complex structures, using a variety of mechanical systems including electrical circuits.
to evaluate existing products, and their own work, against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work.
to prepare and cook a variety of mainly savoury dishes and find out, in more detail, where our food comes from and how it is processed.