Design & Technology
Intent
At Alkerden CE Academy Primary Phase, we believe Design & Technology offers learners the opportunity to apply creativity, imagination and practical skills to solve real problems. It is an inspiring, practical subject that enables learners to think creatively and develop essential life skills for the modern world.
Through our curriculum, we aim to build learners’ knowledge and skills progressively across six key areas:
- Structures
- Mechanisms/Mechanical systems
- Textiles
- Cooking and nutrition
- Electrical systems
- The digital world
These areas are revisited across year groups, ensuring a progressive, spiral curriculum that gives learners a broad and balanced experience of designing and making products using a wide range of materials, tools and technologies.
Our Design & Technology curriculum aims to:
- Encourage learners to think like designers: generating ideas, planning, making prototypes or products, and evaluating outcomes.
- Develop technical knowledge and practical skills in working with a variety of materials, components and media.
- Foster creativity, resilience and resourcefulness, enabling learners to take risks, experiment, test and refine their ideas, learning from both success and failure.
- Build awareness of how Design and Technology impacts everyday life and wider society, including environmental, social and cultural considerations.
- Provide opportunities for hands-on, meaningful and purposeful making, combining knowledge, skills and imagination.
We aim to nurture confident, imaginative and capable young designers and makers, ensuring all learners see themselves as problem-solvers, prepared for the evolving demands of future learning and life.
Implementation
Design and Technology is delivered through the Kapow Primary scheme, which provides a well-sequenced and progressive curriculum. Learning is consistently structured around the four key strands of design:
- Design
- Make
- Evaluate
- Technical knowledge
These strands ensure a balanced coverage of the substantive, disciplinary and procedural knowledge learners need to progress. This ensures that learners develop a secure understanding of the full design process, from generating ideas to refining and improving finished products. These strands are embedded within all units, enabling learners to build and apply their knowledge and skills with increasing independence.
The curriculum is organised across the six key areas of structures, mechanisms/mechanical systems, textiles, cooking and nutrition, electrical systems and the digital world. These areas are revisited across year groups, allowing learners to deepen their understanding, revisit prior knowledge and refine their practical skills over time. This spiral approach ensures that learning is both cumulative and progressive.
Lessons are practical, engaging and purposeful, providing learners with opportunities to design for real users and contexts. Learners work with a wide range of materials, tools and technologies, developing confidence in making and problem-solving.
Key technical vocabulary is explicitly taught and revisited to support understanding, and learners develop knowledge of materials, systems, processes and techniques relevant to each area of learning.
Strong cross-curricular links are made with subjects such as science, mathematics and computing, enabling learners to apply their knowledge in meaningful ways.
Teaching is inclusive and adaptive, ensuring that all learners can access the curriculum and achieve success. Opportunities for collaboration, reflection and evaluation are embedded throughout, and learners are encouraged to consider sustainability and the wider impact of their designs.
Assessment is ongoing and formative, based on observation, discussion and the evaluation of outcomes. Learners are supported to reflect on their work, identify strengths and areas for improvement and demonstrate progression in line with our skills and knowledge milestones.
Impact
The impact of our Design and Technology curriculum is that, by the time learners leave Alkerden CE Academy Primary Phase, they have developed secure knowledge and skills across the four strands of design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge, and can apply these confidently across a range of contexts. They gain a broad and balanced experience across the six key areas of structures, mechanisms/mechanical systems, textiles, cooking and nutrition, electrical systems and the digital world, demonstrating clear progression in their understanding and practical abilities over time.
Learners develop competence in a wide range of practical skills and techniques, working confidently with materials, tools, textiles, food, mechanisms and structures. They think and act like designers, able to generate ideas, plan, produce prototypes or products, and test and evaluate their work. They understand that design is an iterative process and that improvement comes through reflection, adaptation and revision.
Through the curriculum, learners demonstrate creativity, resourcefulness and innovation, using their imagination to solve problems and design with purpose. They develop an understanding of the contexts and implications of design, considering functionality, user needs, sustainability and the wider social and environmental impact of what they create. Learners are able to communicate their ideas clearly through planning, drawing, discussion and evaluation, using appropriate Design and Technology vocabulary to explain their thinking and choices.
Learners approach new design challenges with confidence, resilience and increasing independence. They are equipped to adapt, apply their skills in different situations and respond positively to feedback. They demonstrate key values such as creativity, responsibility, perseverance and collaboration, working effectively with others, respecting different viewpoints and taking pride in their achievements.
The impact of our curriculum is visible in learners who approach design and making tasks with confidence and curiosity, who can work both independently and collaboratively with skill, and who reflect thoughtfully on their work. They learn from mistakes, refine their ideas and take pride in their creative outcomes. Over time, they build practical competence, creative confidence and a deeper understanding of the importance of Design and Technology in everyday life and the wider world. As a result, they see themselves as capable makers, problem-solvers and creative contributors, well prepared for future education and life beyond primary school.
DT Across the Stages
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
Design and Technology is delivered through play-based, hands-on experiences, introducing learners to the early stages of the design process. Learners begin to explore materials, experiment with simple tools and techniques, and express their ideas through mark making, construction, role play, collage and creative tasks. They are encouraged to share their ideas and intentions (design), create using a range of materials and tools (make), and talk about what they have made and how it could be improved (evaluate). Through exploration, they develop early technical knowledge, learning how materials behave, how structures are put together and how simple mechanisms can work.
Through continuous provision and adult-led activities, learners are introduced to key areas such as structures, mechanisms, textiles, cooking and nutrition and the digital world. They learn to handle tools safely, develop fine motor skills and begin to understand purpose and function in what they create. By the end of EYFS, learners are confident, curious and creative, with the foundational skills, vocabulary and understanding needed to successfully access the Design and Technology curriculum in Key Stage 1.
Key Stage 1 (Years 1-2)
In Key Stage 1, Design and Technology builds on the foundations established in EYFS and structured around the four key strands of design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge. Learners design simple products, such as models, small structures, basic sewn items and simple food dishes, guided by their own ideas and experiences. They begin to plan their designs, select appropriate materials and tools, and develop practical skills in cutting, joining, shaping and assembling.
Learners are introduced to key areas including structures, mechanisms, textiles and cooking and nutrition, with opportunities to explore simple moving parts, strengthen structures and understand basic healthy eating. They learn to make their products safely and with increasing accuracy and are encouraged to evaluate their work by discussing what works well and what could be improved. Through this process, learners develop foundational practical, creative and problem-solving skills, preparing them for more complex design challenges in Key Stage 2.
Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6)
In Key Stage 2, Design and Technology builds on prior learning, with learners developing greater independence across the four key strands of design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge. Learners design purposeful, functional products for specific users and contexts, such as more complex structures, mechanical systems, textile products and dishes, including applying their understanding of electrical systems and the digital world. They generate and develop ideas through research, annotated sketches and planning, selecting appropriate materials, tools and techniques with increasing accuracy.
Learners refine their practical skills in measuring, cutting, joining, shaping and assembling and begin to understand how to strengthen structures, create movement through mechanisms and use simple electrical components. In cooking and nutrition, they prepare and cook a wider range of dishes while understanding seasonality and healthy eating. They evaluate their products more critically, considering functionality, purpose and user needs, using this to improve their designs. Through this, learners develop creativity, resilience and problem-solving skills, becoming confident, capable designers and makers prepared for secondary education and beyond.
Inclusion & Support
Alkerden values the individuality of every learner. To support this, we ensure that:
-
Tasks are adapted where needed. For learners who need additional support, we provide scaffolding, simplified tasks, alternative materials or extra guidance.
-
More able and confident learners have opportunities for creativity and challenge, with open-ended design briefs, advanced techniques or choice of materials.
-
All learners have access to appropriate resources and materials, and are supported to use tools safely and with confidence.
-
Reflection and evaluation are embedded in learning, so learners of all levels learn to self-assess, plan improvements, and grow their skills over time.