Design & Technology

Our Intent

We want our children to use creativity and imagination, 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.

Knowledge Facts

The answers to all of our ‘Big Questions’ form our Forever Facts. This is the knowledge that we think our children need to remember in future years, well beyond when they have left their year group and when they have left Fourlanesend C P School. We have ‘recall’ in all lessons, quizzing the children about past weeks, past topics and even past years learning.

Implementation

All lessons are planned using skills progressions so that knowledge is taught horizontally across the year group, skills are progressed vertically across the key stage, resulting in diagonal learning.
We cover a range of product design areas – including food technology, textiles, robotics and resistant materials.
We design for a purpose, using research to examine existing products.
We encourage the children to take risks in their designs, we let their choices and innovation lead the design process.
We design using computer programmes like Micro-Bits
We evaluate our designs critically, we always look for potential improvements and next-steps.
We use our ‘recall’ time at the start of topic and Design and Technology lessons to develop the children’s long-term memory on specific Design and Technology Forever Facts.

Strategies for supporting pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Design & Technology lessons:

Opportunities

Speaking and listening is incredibly important in Design and Technology. Our children work collaboratively in the design process and create products as a team.

Impact

To engage, inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to solve problems, innovate and invent products. They do this in a process that allows them to develop new practical skills and effectively use a range of technology to create high-quality outcomes.

Assessment

In Design and Technology, we assess children through a mix of self-reflection, project evaluation, group work, and individual assessment. Self-assessment helps them reflect on their progress, while project evaluations focus on creativity and problem-solving. Group work fosters teamwork and peer feedback, and individual assessments track skill development and understanding. This approach ensures each child grows in confidence and ability. We also use our ‘recall’ quizzes to assess the children’s past weeks, past topics and even past years learning.