At Galley Common School we strive to give children all the skills they need to succeed in life.  We cover a range of skills in Design and Technology to help the children devolve their physical and mental skills.

At Galley Common School we use Kapow for Design and Technology.

Intent

Design and Technology prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. Creative thinking encourages children to make positive changes to their quality of life. The subject encourages children to become autonomous and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond by developing ideas and eventually making products. Through the study of design and technology they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impacts. Design and Technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators.

The aims of design and technology are:

• develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform       practical tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
• build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
• critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others
• understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

Foundation Stage

We encourage the development of skills, knowledge and understanding that help Reception children make sense of their world as an integral part of the school’s work. As the Reception class is part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, we relate the development of the children’s knowledge and understanding of the world to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals. These underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five. This learning forms the foundations for later work in design and technology. These early experiences include asking questions about how things work, investigating and using a variety of construction kits, materials, tools and products, developing making skills and handling appropriate tools and construction material safely and with increasing control as well as food and nutrition. Reception children cook weekly where possible. 

We provide a range of experiences that encourage exploration, observation, problem solving, critical thinking and discussion. These activities, indoors and outdoors, attract the children’s interest and curiosity.

Key Stage One

Design and Technology is a foundation subject in the National Curriculum. Our school plans to meet the objectives stated in the National Curriculum for Design and Technology. In Key Stage 1 long term plans have been developed to incorporate Design and Technology into appropriate topics.  We carry out the curriculum planning in Design and Technology in three phases: long-term, medium-term and short-term.

Our medium-term plans give details of a D+T focus for each term. They identify learning objectives and outcomes for each unit, and ensure an appropriate balance and distribution of work across each term.

Class teachers complete a weekly plan in Key Stage 1 which may involve Design and Technology.  These list the specific learning objectives for each lesson and detail how the lessons are to be taught. The class teacher keeps these individual plans.

We plan the activities in Design and Technology so that they build upon the prior learning of the children. We give children of all abilities the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding and we also build planned progression into the scheme of work, so that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school.