Feniscowles Primary School has created a curriculum intent statement.  This intent has been written to provide an overarching context for our school curriculum to allow ‘A Feniscowles Child’ to ‘Live Life in its fullest’.  This document can be found on our website and should be read in conjunction with our subject specific intent statements.

How does Design Technology contribute towards our overall curriculum intent?

The study of Design Technology at Feniscowles Primary School has been developed with our school motto of ‘Striving for Excellence’ as its guiding principle. The National Curriculum provides schools with a clear program of study for us to follow and a starting point for curriculum development.

At Feniscowles, learners receive a design and technology curriculum which allows them to exercise their creativity through designing and making. Learners are taught to combine their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding in order to design and make a product. Knowing that future employment may be in the manufacturing sector, this element is key to our curriculum.

Knowledge and skills are taught progressively to ensure that all learners are able to learn and practice in order to develop as they move through the school.  We aim for our children to know and to remember more over the course of their schooling.

The teaching of Design and Technology is Inclusive in terms of delivering the same curriculum to all of our pupils irrespective of specific learning needs or disabilities and differentiating where necessary through, for example, in class support, providing different learning environments, alternative learning activities and assessment outcomes.  

Evaluation is an integral part of the design process and allows learners to adapt and improve their product, this is a key skill which they need throughout their life.  This supports our wider values system and behaviour policy.

Design and Technology allows children to apply the knowledge and skills learned in other subjects, particularly Maths, Science and Art. Children’s interests are captured through theme learning, ensuring that links are made in a cross curricular way, wherever possible, giving children motivation and meaning for their learning. 

Key objectives of intent within the Design Technology Curriculum based on the National Curriculum 2014 guidance:  

• Products are to be made for a purpose.  
• Individuality should be ensured in children’s design and construction of products.  
• Delivery of the two strands: Designing and Making and Cooking and Nutrition.  
• More emphasis to be given on creating ‘innovative’ products in KS2 (Key Stage 2).  
• Teaching the importance of making on-going changes and improvements during making stages.  
• Looking into seasonality of ingredients and how they are grown, caught or reared 
• The introduction of computing and coding of products in KS2.  
• Researching key events and individual designers in the History of Technology in KS2. 

Our Design and Technology policy provides you with details on how we implement this intent through our curriculum.  We have also provided our progression documents and information so that you can see how Design and Technology progresses throughout our school