The Design Technology Curriculum

Our Design and Technology curriculum is about providing opportunities for pupils to develop their skills and creativity. By combining their design and making skills with knowledge and understanding they will learn to create quality products. Design and Technology is often named by pupils as one of their favourite subjects as our pupils enjoy making decisions for themselves and undertaking practical work. They enjoy the challenge of creating products that they can see, touch – and even taste – for themselves and they feel proud to have achieved this.

Design and Technology brings learning to life, it is a motivating context for discovering Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Art, PSHE and ICT. It also provides a firm basis for later learning in the subject and a platform for developing skills in literacy and numeracy.

Design and Technology education involves two important elements - learning about the designed and made world and how things work and then learning to design and make functional products for particular purposes and users.

At Chasetown, pupils will acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of materials, components, mechanisms, control systems, structures, existing products, quality and health and safety.

Our pupils will develop skills through collaborative working and problem-solving, and knowledge in design, materials, structures, mechanisms and electrical control. They are encouraged to be creative and innovative and are actively encouraged to think about important issues such as sustainability.

There are three core activities pupils engage with in Design and Technology are:-

• Activities which involve investigating and evaluating existing products
• Focused tasks in which children develop particular aspects of knowledge and skills
• Designing and making activities in which pupils design and make 'something' for 'somebody' for 'some purpose' 

These three activities are combined in sequence to create a Design and Technology project. The skills learned will also impact with learning across the curriculum.