Design and Technology
Design and Technology Lead - Mrs R Whittaker
At Laughton All Saints’, we believe that all pupils are potential designers and we ensure that they have opportunities to develop their capability, combining their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding in order to create quality products with users and proposes in mind. Design and Technology in our school develops young children’s skills and knowledge in design, structures, mechanisms, electrical control and a range of materials, including food. We encourage children's creativity and encourage them to think about important issues. Using creativity and imagination, our pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. Our pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. We believe high-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.
To find out more about our rationale and intent, please click below:
Our DT curriculum is based on the National Curriculum:
Design and Technology Programmes of Study: Key Stages 1 and 2
Design and Technology at Laughton All Saints'
Design and Technology education involves two important elements – learning about the designed and made world and how things work, and learning to design and make functional products for particular purposes and users.
Children acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of materials and components, mechanisms and control systems, structures, existing products, quality and health and safety.
The skills learned in D&T also help with learning across the curriculum. For example, knowledge about the properties of materials helps in Science and the practice of measuring accurately helps in Maths. These skills help in Computing through the children’s use of computer control and, naturally, in Art and Design as well.
Design and Technology education helps develop children’s skills through collaborative working and problem-solving, and knowledge in design, materials, structures, mechanisms and electrical control. They are encouraged to be creative and innovative, and are actively encouraged to think about important issues such as sustainability and enterprise.
There are three core activities children engage with in Design and Technology:
- Activities which involve investigating and evaluating existing products
- Focused tasks in which children develop particular aspects of knowledge and skills
- Designing and making activities in which children design and make ‘something’ for ‘somebody’ for ‘some purpose’
These three activities are combined in sequence to create a Design and Technology project.
How is DT taught at Laughton All Saints'?
Please see the following documents which give a flavour of how we craft and plan our curriculum:
D&T EYFS Knowledge and Vocabulary Progression
D&T KS1 Knowledge and Vocabulary Progression
D&T LKS2 Knowledge and Vocabulary Progression
D&T UKS2 Knowledge and Vocabulary Progression
These overviews contain information about the substantive knowledge, disciplinary knowledge and vocabulary your child will learn in each concept:
At Laughton, teachers use DATA's (Design and Technology Association) 'Projects on a Page' to help them craft their D&T lessons. A few examples are:
Y1/2 Project on a Page - Fruit and Vegetables