Design Technology here at Morpeth All Saints…
Art and D&T are taught as part of our broad and balanced curriculum and these skill based lessons cover all new National Curriculum objectives. Weekly lessons encourage children to develop their artistic and creative abilities within the whole of the curriculum and cross curricular opportunities are also offered. We ensure the children experience a wide range of knowledge and skill to develop a breadth of art techniques and skills. They are also encouraged to plan and manipulate a range of materials so that they can develop skill and originality. Children are encouraged to evaluate and appreciate their own work and the work of others in order to develop their appreciation of the arts. We are committed to the wider development of young people and encourage collaborations with professional artists and art organisations.
Intent:
Our Design and Technology Curriculum is designed with the intent to maximise the potential of all of our pupils. Design and Technology is an inspiring and practical subject where children learn to design and make products that solve real world problems. Children draw on a breadth of skills and knowledge from different disciplines and learn to take risks and become resourceful, innovative and enterprising citizens. Children develop their skills of critical evaluation when considering a wide range of real world designs and discover how these impact the world around them. This enables them to develop their understanding of how design and technology impacts the world intellectually, socially, morally, emotionally and culturally as they consider how advances in technology can be used for moral purposes as well as for enterprising purposes.
We take every opportunity to encourage a love for learning within all of our pupils, based around a resilience for learning and achieving greatness. Children experience projects that capture their imagination and challenge their technical abilities. Most importantly we allow our children to learn in a safe and stimulating environment, where their views are valued and respect is fostered through critical thinking and evaluation of their own and others’ ideas.
Children are exposed to subject matter of worldwide importance as well as considering the specific design and product needs of their local school and community through consumer research, making the subject both broad and focussed in reflecting the needs and interests of the school community.
Implementation:
At Morpeth All Saints we deliver our Design and Technology curriculum during dedicated Design Technology weeks each term. During our Design Technology weeks, our children are immersed in high quality lessons focussed around design, make and evaluate.
The design process is rooted in real life and we use relevant contexts to give meaning to learning. While making, children are given choices and a range of tools to choose freely from. During the evaluation process, children are able to evaluate their own products against a design criteria. Each of these steps are rooted in technical knowledge and vocabulary. Our children use their Design Technology books to evidence work and teachers use skills progression and key knowledge to assess against.
Impact:
At Morpeth All Saints we assess the impact of our Design and Technology curriculum in many different ways. This begins with the use of formative assessment within lessons and targeted feedback at the point of learning, which is not solely the final design and end product but through the way children communicate about their understanding of art and design. Outcomes produced by the children are assessed against the desired skills and knowledge relevant to the specific year groups. At the end of each term, judgements are made against end of year expectations, which inform next steps for cohorts. Ongoing assessment of children’s confidence, enjoyment, appreciation of the design and technology learning occurs through formal and informal pupil voice feedback.