Intent

At Glebelands, our Design Technology scheme of work inspires children to acquire knowledge as designers and technologists and enables them to skilfully apply their understanding. It enables them to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. We empower children 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 scheme of work, we 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. 

Implementation

At Glebelands, Design Technology is taught as a discrete subject with subject specific knowledge and skills. The curriculum is designed to build upon skills in a systematic way. The skills taught in design technology build in complexity as a result of the way they are sequenced in the curriculum. This means that they are revisited and explicitly referenced with the result that they become embedded. As with many physical skills such as handwriting, regular practise builds skill and confidence; learnt skills are also applied in different contexts across the curriculum.  

Design technology links to the wider curriculum in many ways – work in science on electricity and forces for example. Making these links explicit to children deepens their understanding and enables them to become more analytical and to realise that their knowledge and skills can be applied in many different contexts. There are also strong historical links, for example in comparing vehicles over time. The aesthetics of design, what makes something pleasing or popular, links to work in art and design. 

Impact

Design technology is all around us. It identifies and provides solutions for real life needs and desires and our curriculum enables children to realise and be part of this. As a result of our curriculum, children are equipped to successfully think, work and communicate like designers. Through exciting design projects, children are inspired to design, make and evaluate. They  explore possibilities and  make links between their acquisition of skills and knowledge and their application in real life; they are the engineers and designers of the future. The process of working as a designer and maker: design, make, evaluate, apply, is a transferrable skill. It is a way of approaching problems and has a positive effect upon well-being. As such, our curriculum for Design Technology has an impact beyond the lessons themselves.