Design and Technology
Design and Technology Intent statement:
At St Peter at Gowts, our design and technology curriculum is inspiring and creative unlocking potential in all. Our curriculum seeks to ensure that all pupils flourish through challenge, support and a broad and balanced curriculum rooted in shared values and consistently high expectations while striving for excellence.
St Peter’s design and technology curriculum is fashioned through our golden threads of values, inspiration, excellence and community.
“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” (St Francis of Assisi)
As designers and technologists, we do not just stop at our curiosity of how things work but instead look at how we can think creatively to problem solve and make products even better. At St Peter at Gowts, we have an understanding of the diversity of the world and the importance of exposing our pupils to a wide range of products that can inspire their curiosity and creativity, as well as the thought-processes involved in creating such products. Through this exposure, children take on the role of developer, evaluator and that of a critique, exploring how products can be developed or adapted for different users as well as creating and testing prototypes to give purpose to projects. Children need a hands on approach that also gives access to other areas of the curriculum such as Mathematics, Science, Engineering, Computing and Art. Skills and techniques developed through our cohesively planned design and technology curriculum are of great importance in our ever-changing technological world to ensure that children are equipped for the next stages in their lives.
Values – Our Design and Technology curriculum embraces our school and British values. Children understand that they have the right to share their thoughts and ideas in a respectful way whilst exploring products and supporting each other through the design, make and evaluate process. They learn that wonderful ideas can come from a range of different cultures and the importance of following Health and Safety rules. The children at St Peter at Gowts are encouraged to be creative with their ideas and show self-belief through each of the stages of learning.
Inspirational – Our inspiring design and technology curriculum ensures that pupils are able to explore a range of different products that can encourage new, innovative and exciting ideas. At St Peter at Gowts, children are able to spend a week immersed in their project, testing out new ideas and looking at new ways to solve problems.
Community – Throughout our design and technology curriculum, our children will develop their understanding of a range of possibilities for products to support people in both the local community and the rest of the world.
Excellence- Through the carefully planned and sequenced scheme of work, it is our intention that all pupils will excel in design and technology. Children at St Peter at Gowts will have the opportunity to design, make and evaluate a range of products for a range of purposes and are encouraged to use the knowledge and skills gained from many other curriculum subjects.
Design and Technology implementation:
Our design and technology curriculum is implemented through a variety of different projects over the children’s time at St Peter at Gowts. In addition to our teaching and learning, we provide a wide range of design and technology based after school clubs including; sewing, cooking, embroidery, creative and card making.
- Through the support of the Design and Technology Association (DATA) scheme, Projects on a Page, children will experience an array of different progressive and linkable skills and techniques over the course of a child’s time at St Peter at Gowts. This ensures that children are constantly building upon previous learning and are able to expand their knowledge and understanding of problem solving, designing and constructing different products. Usually a week each term is set aside to complete each project so children are fully immersed in the design-make-evaluate process.
- Children are given a variety of real life products to explore in great detail, expanding their knowledge of how they look and work, allowing children to evaluate products against their target market and purpose.
- For each project, children follow the design-make and evaluate sequence, allowing children time to reflect upon their design and products and think of ways that they could be improved or adapted. Teachers support and model increasingly progressive evaluative skills to enable children to create products of a high-quality throughout school.
- Children are given a design brief to put the need for the product in context. Where possible, teachers ensure that the brief is linked to another area of their learning or has relevance to the children to inspire their imagination and eagerness to create and problem solve.
Safety is explained and modelled at the start of and throughout each product including food hygiene instructions.
Design and Technology impact: 
As a year 6 designer and technologist, transitioning to secondary school, we aspire that pupils will have gained knowledge and understanding of different skills and techniques required to problem-solve by designing and creating a variety of products using a safe approach. They will have an understanding of the cross curricular elements within the subject and the importance of skills learnt in other areas of the curriculum and how they aid the design and make process, as well as how these techniques and skills will aid them in future life and learning.
