At Portfields Primary School, we believe that Design and Technology helps to prepare children for the developing world and encourages them to become curious and creative problem-solvers. We encourage our children to think critically so they have a greater awareness and understanding of how everyday products in the world around them are designed and made.

Throughout the school, we plan Design and Technology activities so that they build upon their prior learning. We give children of all abilities the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding while ensuring progressive challenge, breadth and depth to their design and making. This gives them the skills and confidence to tackle problems in future experiences later on in life.

We have designed an ambitious curriculum built upon the EYFS Framework and the KS1 and KS2 National Curriculum. Children in EYFS & KS1 complete 4 units per year and children in KS2 complete 5 units per year. Throughout their DT journey, every child will complete multiple projects within each strand of DT:

• Food
• Textiles
• Structures
• Mechanisms (KS1) / Mechanical systems (KS2)
• Digital World (KS2)
• Electrical Systems (KS2)

A Portfields child will:

• Show enjoyment and confidence in Design and Technology that they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum.
• Learn, remember and understand more about Design and Technology, demonstrating this knowledge when using skills and tools to complete projects.
• As innovators and problem-solvers, children will develop skills and attributes they can use beyond school and into adulthood.

 Implementation

• Every child has the opportunity to prepare and cook food in our purpose-built cooking room each year.
• Whilst the EYFS framework and the KS1 & KS2 National Curriculum form the foundation of our curriculum, we provide children with the opportunity to learn additional skills and knowledge and enhance our curriculum as and when necessary.
• Children will learn a range of skills whilst ensuring they are aware of health and safety issues related to the tasks undertaken. These cross-curricular links will help develop children’s opportunities to learn life skills and apply skills to ‘hands on’ situations in a purposeful context. 
• Solving problems works best when children have the opportunity to work independently as well as collaboratively. We provide children with the opportunity to work as part of a team, learning to support and help one another towards a challenging, yet rewarding goal.

We follow a 4-stage model of Design and Technology:

Analyse

• Learn about inventors and designers, exploring the real-world applications of their products.
• Analyse and give opinions about existing products, using this to inform their own designs.

Design

• In EYFS and KS1, design skills develop from verbal to drawn and annotated designs.
• In KS2, the children complete a range of technical designs including scaled drawings, exploded diagrams, 3D perspective drawings and computer aided design.

Make

• Select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures.
• Show resilience and adaptability, taking feedback and making changes at all stages of the making process.

Evaluate

• Evaluate final pieces in a variety of ways, e.g. verbally; evaluating against the design criteria; and testing for functionality.
• Give and receive feedback to and from peers, making changes and improvements as necessary.