Curriculum Intent

St. Mary’s Design and Technology curriculum aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through our curriculum, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements. Our Design and Technology curriculum enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum. 

Curriculum Aims

Whole School Aims	In Design and Technology…
To have Christ at the centre of everything we do.  To provide opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident, resilient, successful & motivated learners with high aspirations who know how to make a positive and transformational contribution to their local community and wider global society.	Design and Technology offers children the chance to use the gifts of creative thinking and design, working towards a defined purpose and outcome.  Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in a process of designing and making.
To be firmly rooted in the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.  Inspired by Pope Francis, St. Mary’s Curriculum encourages our pupils to grow in self-awareness and become advocates of social justice.	Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, children will develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.  High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.
To challenge all pupils, regardless of disadvantages or special needs, to be the greatest example of themselves.  Through experiences both inside and outside of the classroom, pupils are provided with a purpose and relevance for learning, which allows them to develop their own personal strengths and interests.	In lessons, children are able to show their skills in a practical and hands-on approach.  The skills that are taught are wide and varied enabling children to find an aspect of Design and Technology that the feel most comfortable and suited to, whilst also developing in the aspect they may be less confident in.
St Mary’s Curriculum develops the key skills necessary for all our pupil and promotes high expectations of standards and enjoyment in Reading, Writing and Maths across all subject areas.	Through the study of Design and Technology, pupils will acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as Mathematics, Science, Engineering, Computing and Art.  Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.
To develop pupils with a broad and lasting knowledge of subject specific vocabulary.	The vocabulary used with Design and Technology lessons provides pupils with the language which equips them for the next stage of their education and that of the wider world – a language used in the industrial landscape of design and technology.
To empower pupils to respect each other and themselves, show respect and understanding for people of all faiths, race and gender, and for all living things, promoting stewardship and to ensure all pupils are well prepared for life in a rapidly changing world.	As part of Design and Technology, children are encouraged to be iterative and evaluate their own and other’s work.  This promotes respect for the work that they have all created and the understanding that they may have a different solution or idea to someone else.

Curriculum Implementation

The Design and Technology National Curriculum outlines the three main stages of the design  process: design, make and evaluate. Each stage of the design process is underpinned by technical knowledge which encompasses the contextual, historical, and technical understanding required for each strand. Cooking and nutrition has a separate section, with a focus on specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality.  The National curriculum organises the Design and Technology attainment targets under four subheadings: Design, Make, Evaluate, and Technical knowledge.

We have taken these subheadings to be our own strands:

● Design ● Make ● Evaluate ● Technical knowledge

St. Mary’s  Design and Technology curriculum has a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these strands and key areas across each year group. Our Progression grids show the skills and knowledge that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage.

Our National curriculum overview shows which of our units cover each of the National  Curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the four strands.

Cooking and nutrition is given a particular focus in the National curriculum and we have made this one of our six key areas that pupils revisit throughout their time in primary school:

● Cooking and Nutrition  ● Mechanisms/ Mechanical Systems  ● Structures

● Textiles  ● Electrical Systems (KS2 only)  ● Digital World (KS2 only)

Through St. Mary’s Design Technology Curriculum, pupils respond to design briefs and scenarios that require consideration of the needs of others, developing their skills in the six key areas.

Each of our key areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate) and has a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum. Our Curriculum is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning.

Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Every lesson provided the opportunity for scaffolding  to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.

Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly effective and robust Design and Technology Curriculum and every effort has been made to ensure that they feel supported to deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression. Each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD.

Curriculum Impact

The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which can be used at the start and/ or end of the unit. After the implementation of St. Mary’s Design and Technology Curriculum, pupils should leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be innovative and resourceful members of society.

The expected impact of St Mary’s Design and Technology Curriculum is that children will:

➔ Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources.

➔ Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products.

➔ Build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes, CAD, and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients, and scenarios. ➔ Understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipes, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment.

➔ Have an appreciation for key individuals, inventions, and events in history and of today that impact our world. ➔ Recognise where our decisions can impact the wider world in terms of community, social and environmental issues.

➔ Self-evaluate and reflect on learning at different stages and identify areas to improve.

➔ Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Design and technology.

➔ Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Computing.