Design and Technology

Intent

Design and Technology at Billesdon Primary School instils qualities such as curiosity, enquiry and determination. We aim to inspire, excite and engage the children through carrying out a range of effective research and design and make tasks. Design and Technology will allow all Billesdon pupils to put their learning from other areas of the curriculum into practice and will work to enhance and deepen their understanding of those areas, including Maths, Computing, Science, and Art.

Pupils at Billesdon School will learn about cooking, food and nutrition, ensuring that they acquire the fundamental life skills in order to be able to feed themselves healthily and independently, whilst learning about where food comes from, therefore making connections with their geographical and scientific knowledge. We have a strong link with a local farm and all children have the chance to visit the farm each springtime, with learning opportunities across the whole year.  We also take part in the Food for Life programme which involves growing, harvesting and cooking our own produce.

Implementation

At Billesdon Primary we follow the aims set out in the National Curriculum for Design and Technology.  This ensures that all pupils:

• develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
• build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
• critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others
• understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

The EYFS framework is structured very differently to the national curriculum as it is organised across seven areas of learning rather than subject areas. The most relevant statements for DT are taken from the following areas of learning:

• Physical Development
• Expressive Arts and Design

Impact

The impact of the teaching of Design and Technology is assessed in a number of ways. Formal assessment by book trawls and marking of children’s work is used alongside photographic and video evidence. Careful questioning and planning for child led discussions are some of the other methods of measuring impact.

At the end of the two year cycle, the children will have experience of the following:

• How to follow the design, make, evaluate process to meet a goal
• Solving real life practical problems using innovation and creativity, both as an individual and as part of a group
• Choosing from and using a growing range of tools and materials
• Using and understanding richer technical vocabulary associated with DT
• Preparing a range of healthy, varied and nutritious dishes

Click here to view the National Curriculum guidance for Design and Technology

Click here to view the Whole School DT Curriculum Plan 2023/2024