Intent: This is what we want for your child

At Barley Fields Primary Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject which prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world.  We encourage children to use their creativity and imagination, to explore, design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts.  Our Design and Technology curriculum has been devised to combine the development of skills, knowledge and concepts and provides children with opportunities to develop their abilities to analyse, problem solve, apply practical capability and evaluation skills.

We aim, wherever possible, to link Design and Technology work with disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.  Our children are encouraged to become innovators, risk-takers and creative problem solvers.

Implementation: This is what it will look like in the classroom

Our children follow a carefully structured Design and Technology curriculum which is designed to ensure children know more and remember more as they progress through our school.  Our content is supported by advice and support from the Design Technology Association.  The curriculum is taught through four skills led strands which underpin our teaching approach:

  • Exploring products and developing ideas
  • Development of skills
  • Designing and Making tasks
  • Product evaluation and review

Within our design and technology curriculum we cover five strands of study – textiles, mechanisms, structures, electrical systems and food and nutrition.  All teaching and learning opportunities link to a progressive coverage of skills, knowledge and vocabulary acquisition in these areas. 

Our Teaching Approach:

  • DT is taught in blocks of lessons to ensure children have opportunities for a sustained period of study and have time to embed and enhance their learning.
  • Detailed medium-term planning supports teaching, ensures continuity and carefully plans for progression and depth.
  • Teaching and learning in DT is designed to be practical and hands on and, where possible, is linked to real life contexts and problems. 
  • Children have opportunities to use high quality resources and materials to support their learning.

Our children understand the core skills needed to work as a designer with the use of the school curriculum character – Daisy the Designer.  These characters are regularly used to encourage children to reflect on the key skills needed when working within DT.

Full details of our curriculum long term schemes of learning and curriculum pathways can be downloaded below.

Impact: This is what it will mean for our children

By the end of each key stage, children are expected to know, apply and understand the skills and techniques specified in the DT curriculum plans.

Children are assessed using our SONAR tracking system which identifies clear and progressive end points.   This ensures progress is maintained and end of key stage expectations are met by all children.

Children are assessed termly and a final summative assessment made at the end of the academic year.  Children will be assessed as either Emerging, Developing, Secure or Exceeding, in accordance with Age Related Expectations.

In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

  • A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes;
  • A celebration of learning for each term which demonstrates progression across the school (Curriculum Floor book);
  • Pupil discussions about their learning (Pupil Voice);
  • The annual tracking of standards across the curriculum. In KS1 and KS2
Design Technology Long Term Scheme of Learning
Design Technology Curriculum Pathway
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