Design & Technology

Our Design and Technology Intent

Design and Technology is an inspiring, exciting and very practical subject. At Oyster Park Academy, we believe Design and Technology inspires children to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. We aim to ensure that there is continuity, progression, breadth and balance throughout the school in our planning and teaching of Design and Technology. Such opportunities will result in the acquisition of knowledge and skills and will support children in knowing more, remembering more and understanding more. Throughout the scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful and enterprising members of society who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements.

Reading

In Design and Technology, we cultivate a reading culture by exposing children to a variety of genres through carefully planned activities.  In Key Stage 1, this will entail using their knowledge of fairy tales to create their own fairy-tale puppet, as well as constructing a strong stable chair for Baby Bear. In Key Stage 2, this will include creating their own personalised book sleeve, a non-fiction pop-up book about the solar system, and finally, writing a recipe for a class recipe book.

Oracy

Our Design and Technology curriculum reflects the typical needs of our pupils and aims to broaden and deepen their vocabulary, develop greater oracy skills and help them to self-regulate their emotions.  To achieve this, our Design and Technology curriculum provides opportunities for children to develop creative, technical and practical skills required to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. It enables them to develop 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. Our pupils are given the opportunity to critique, evaluate and test their own ideas and products, and the work of others, as well as understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

SEND

At Oyster Park Primary Academy, we plan and deliver our Design and Technology curriculum to accommodate and challenge children of all abilities. We are aware that it is necessary to provide specialist equipment, utilise support staff and allow additional time for tasks. Pupils with SEN often find designing activities problematic. As a result, careful consideration is given to ensuring that students can access and produce successful initial design work as well as work independently as much as possible. For example, children are given a variety of methods for recording ideas, and to further assist them, they can watch step-by-step videos that work at a pace appropriate for that particular child.