Intent
At Beechwood, we want our pupils to think for themselves and care for others. We are committed to delivering aa design and technology develops the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. We want all children at Beechwood be inspired by diverse designers and technicians throughout history and across the world, showing children that they can be and create whoever they dream of. We then want our children to think for themselves, showing their creativity through their designs and individual end products. We want children to recognise that DT can be used to care for others: designing products which can be used to help people in their everyday lives.
Implementation
Design Technology at Beechwood is an inspiring and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, children make products that have specific design purposes and consider their own and other’s needs. Through our carefully selected Kapow scheme, children are encouraged to think creatively to solve problems and are supported to gain success and confidence in what they do. At Beechwood, the Design Technology curriculum also helps to develop children’s practical and thinking skills, helping them to put their ideas into practise. Children gain knowledge through researching existing ideas, designing, making and critically evaluating their own products for effectiveness. During the design process, meaningful links can often be made with other areas of the curriculum such as Maths, Science, Computing and Art. Throughout their time at Beechwood, children will have opportunities to work in a wide variety of technological fields, learning techniques to develop sound structures including working mechanisms, as well as electrical systems, textiles and food technology. The cyclical nature of our curriculum allows children to repeat, refine and enhance their skills from reception to Year 6. A high-quality Design Technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, practical skills, and thought processes in children and at Beechwood we seek to foster this in all our pupils.
Impact
Throughout our DT lessons, we consistently monitor pupils understanding and progress using expert questioning: encouraging children to retrieve their prior knowledge. By the time children leave Beechwood in year 6, they will have produced a created a range of products including food, textiles, structures and mechanisms.
