St Therese of Lisieux

St Norbert's
Catholic Primary School


Design and Technology

At St. Norbert’s Primary School design technology curriculum aims to inspire pupil’s creativity and resourcefulness when designing and making products which have a purpose and fit into a real life context. This ability to identify the importance of different products and their uses will equip the children with an understanding of how the world works and inspire them to think analytically about the manmade world around them.

Our Design Technology curriculum is based around a problem solving, investigative context which allows pupils the freedom and creativity to follow their own lines of enquiry. The children learn about how to design and make functional and appealing products for themselves and others from a given brief. They have opportunities to use their speaking and listening skills to discuss and communicate their ideas and use ICT to aid their research into current products. For some products they will also use market research to support their design brief.

We teach technology throughout topic-based curriculum. Design and Technology encourages the development of knowledge, skills and understanding in a practically based subject. Pupils are taught to develop, plan and communicate ideas. They work with tools, equipment, materials and components to make quality products. Upon completion of their task, they evaluate the processes and products.

In Key Stage 1 pupils learn how to think imaginatively and talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making. They build on their early childhood experiences of investigating objects around them. They explore how familiar things work and talk about, draw and model their ideas. They learn how to design and make safely and start to use ICT as part of their designing and making.

During key stage two, the pupils will use a variety of tools and make a range of products from different materials including construction materials, textiles and ingredients. They will explore mechanisms within the context of a product and identify ways of improving it, through strength, aesthetics or taste. The pupils will have the experience of using the kitchen equipment, saws, drills, bench hooks, joining materials and sanding. They will use all of these items in the context of the making process for their particular product. The children will use their evaluation skills to suggest strengths and areas for improvement with their finished product.

The key principles underpinning our Design and Food Technology are;

  • DT is about designing, making and evaluation.
  • It’s about developing children’s understanding of different tools and techniques and any safety implications that they may have.
  • It’s about identifying different products in the local environment and thinking about the products relevance to where it belongs.
  • DT is about identifying the requirements of a design brief and developing success criteria for a product.
  • It’s about identifying successful and not so successful features of existing products and using these in a design.
  • Testing and evaluation of different resources, techniques and products, gaining knowledge about their own work and the work of others.
  • Identifying changes that need to be made to a product and improving it.
  • In addition, Food technology is about developing an understanding of hygiene during food preparation and the nutritional implications within a design brief.