Subject Overview
Design & Technology prepares children to deal with the rapidly changing modern world. It encourages children to become independent, creative problem-solvers and think as individuals and as part of a team – making positive changes to products that are designed for a particular purpose. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond to them by developing a range of ideas and by making products and systems. Through the study of Design & Technology, children 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 & technology assessing its use and impact on the world. Design & Technology helps all children to become astute and informed future consumers and potential innovators!
Intent
At Rockmount Primary School, we believe that Design and Technology allows students to use their creativity and imagination to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems. Design and Technology encourages children to learn to think and intervene creatively to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world
Implementation
In line with the National Curriculum, children design products with a purpose in mind and an intended user of the products. Rockmount firmly believes that children learn best by ‘doing’ and taking risks through experimenting. As a school we are dedicated to the teaching and delivery of a high-quality Design and Technology curriculum through well planned and resourced projects and experiences. Children are assessed against the unit objectives they are working towards each term and are encouraged to be reflective on their own and their peers’ work, assessing success and offering a supportive critique.
Impact
Each pupil will:
Curriculum Content
"DT is fun because you get to make things. I loved making porridge in a pan because we could do it by ourselves and it's like inventing!" Sonny
"I have learnt how to make a circuit correctly so it helped light up the Lizard Street that we built. Everything we do, we have to plan. We have to look at our materials and equipment and then plan how we're going to build it." Joni
"I thought sewing was really tricky but it was really fun. It was my first time doing sewing and it was fun having a new experience." Daisharn
"In Year 5 we did woodwork in DT. We were making cars (war vehicles), mainly using wood but also other materials. You use crumble and connect it to the laptop using the wire. You input into the laptop and then your car would move according to the button. My car kept doing 360 donuts! Sewing is really good in DT because we made tote bags and I found this really calming." Dylan
"We used Tinkercad to make Viking boats. I found the software difficult to use as I found the controls odd. I prefer using Scratch when programming. It's good to work with a partner who also knows some coding as it helps because when I programmed my car it kept crashing!" Kalina
Our Learning Kitchen
We are very lucky at Rockmount to have our very own purpose-built Learning Kitchen that we can use to support pupils with their cooking lessons in Design & Technology. We use our Learning Kitchen regularly with classes to help children understand more about nutrition, where food comes from, seasonality and how to safely prepare dishes. Pupils enjoy their sessions in the learning kitchen and are even very keen to help with the washing up!
If you would like to learn more about our Learning Kitchen, please click here.
Useful Links