Design and Technology 

Intent

We aspire for the children of the Phoenix Federation to be creative and imaginative engineers as they combat real life problems while considering a variety of consumer needs.

Our Design and Technology curriculum encourages pupils to take innovative risks to meet these challenges and be enterprising citizens.

At the Phoenix Federation, we aim to provide all children with a broad and balanced curriculum which prepares them for life beyond primary education. In our rapidly changing world, we want the children who leave our schools in Year 6 to feel confident in using their capable minds and resourcefulness, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.

Additionally, the children will be exposed to aspirational figures within this subject, and it offers children at our Federation the opportunity to develop a critical mind and hope to have a career within a STEM pathway. 

Implementation

Design and Technology is taught discretely in three half termly units per year. Each unit consists of five lessons and revisits previous knowledge children have acquired over their Design and Technology experiences.

The curriculum is designed around building essential knowledge and understanding and acquiring key skills. These are broken into year group expectations and show clear continuity and progress.  All teaching of Design and Technology follows the design, make and evaluate cycle.  The design process should be relevant in context, to give meaning to learning.

While making, children should be given choice and a range of tools to choose freely from. When evaluating, children should be able to evaluate their own products against a design criteria. Each of these steps should be rooted in technical knowledge and vocabulary.

Assessment is based upon product outcomes and conversations of positive and supportive critique.

In addition to lessons, whole school Design and Technology exhibits and showcases occur throughout the school calendar.

Impact

The impact of our Design and Technology is evident in the excitement and creativity the children can showcase in their designs and product outcomes:

By the time our children leave the Federation we want them to:

• Learn how to take risks during the design and making processes.
• Become resourceful
• Explore innovative ideas with peers
• Show an enterprising spirit
• Understand what it is to be capable citizens when solving real life problems
• Through the evaluation of past and present product, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.

It is the high-quality design and technology education that makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth, and well-being of the nation, of which the Federation is keen to be a leader in.