"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
Steve Jobs
Intent
At West Kirby Primary School, we aim to enable pupils to be healthy, ecologically aware and global citizens of the future. The aim within DT lessons is to enable all our pupils, regardless of ability, to access the DT Curriculum. We also aim to expose the pupils to a range of architects, inventors, designers and engineers from past and present and to encourage the children to reflect on purpose, effectiveness and achievements in order to inspire them to be innovators in the subject.
Implementation
In DT, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. DT is taught over three half terms per year, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. Pupils use their broad range of subject knowledge to help them follow the ‘Design, Make, Evaluate’ approach. In our school, this can be seen in the way that all key phases study food and nutrition units yearly. Each class benefits from the expertise of our school cook. The children are made aware of the importance of a balanced diet and where our food comes from, as well as developing a range of cooking skills and hopefully a love of cooking. When we undertake any DT unit, the importance of recycling materials and not to waste products, from paper in KS1 to wood in UKS2, is promoted. The children are made aware of where products or food are from and how techniques and products have developed, e.g. Faberge eggs from Russia, Roman sandals and French bread, making them more globally aware. This is recorded in assessment data and through photographs in each class Big Book, displays and on the e-portfolio.
Impact
DT will develop each child’s resilience and mind set by overcoming problems. They will do this by modifying their design, promoting the need for trial and error and learning the importance of learning from mistakes. Further evidence of this will come from the children’s own opinions of their learning (pupil voice). Pupils will have developed skills to enable them to evaluate their own learning and speak confidently to others about their own work.