Our Design and Technology lead here at Park Road Academy is Mrs Gordon, who is also our Year Two Teacher. Mrs Gordon's position as Design and Technology Lead enables her to channel her dedication to equipping our young learners with the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in the rapidly evolving world of innovation and problem-solving. Our mission at Park Road Academy is to cultivate a dynamic and forward-thinking educational experience that empowers pupils to explore their creativity and shape a brighter future through design and technology.

Our Curriculum Intent

Our design and technology curriculum aims to spark innovation and creativity in our pupils, seeking to cultivate their understanding of the product design process, from generating ideas to creating and evaluating final products and outcomes. Our goal is to nurture pupils’ confidence in taking risks and guide them through stages including drafting design concepts, modelling and testing. We aim for our pupils to be reflective learners who evaluate their own work and the work of their peers.

Embedded within our design and technology curriculum is an appreciation for the influence of design and technology on our daily lives. At Park Road Academy, we aim to instill a sense of resourcefulness and enterprise amongst our pupils, equipping them to become valuable contributors to future advancements in design. Our design and technology curriculum is based on Kapow Primary’s Design and Technology scheme, which aligns with the national curriculum objectives, enabling our pupils to meet the national curriculum’s end of key stage attainment targets.

We have chosen to implement Kapow Primary’s Design and Technology scheme because it aligns with our school’s principles and educational objectives within the realm of design and technology. Our aim in design and technology is to inspire children to engage with, create and immerse themselves in the world of arts and culture. We strive to kindle a genuine passion that encourages exploration, innovation, and a profound appreciation for the rich tapestry of artistic expression that surrounds us.

Implementation

At Park Road Academy, we ensure that the three stages of the design process and the technical knowledge that underpins these key areas are implemented into our design and technology curriculum, in line with those outlined in the national curriculum. These are:

• Design
• Make
• Evaluate

The three areas delivered in our design and technology curriculum encompass the contextual, historical, and technical understanding required for each of the four strands of the national curriculum attainment targets. These are:

• Design
• Make
• Evaluate
• Technical knowledge

We ensure that cooking and nutrition are implemented in each year from the Early Year Foundation Stage to Year 6. This enables our pupils to explore the specific principles, skills and techniques in food, including where food comes from, diet and seasonality. In addition to cooking and nutrition, our pupils revisit six key areas in design and technology throughout their time at Park Road Academy:

• Cooking and nutrition
• Mechanisms/ Mechanical systems
• Structures
• Textiles
• Electrical systems (KS2 only)
• Digital world (KS2 only)

Our design and technology curriculum demonstrates a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these strands and key areas across each year group. Our Design and Technology Curriculum Overview displays how each of our units align with the national curriculum attainment targets, along with each of the four strands in design and technology. Our Curriculum Progression in Design and Technology document demonstrates how the skills and knowledge taught in each year group evolve, ensuring that attainment targets are securely met by our pupils at the end of each key stage.

Using Kapow Primary’s Design and Technology scheme, our pupils engage with design prompts and scenarios that encourage them to consider the needs of others and develop their skills in the six key areas. Each of the six key areas in our design and technology curriculum follows the design process of ‘design, make, evaluate’ and centers around a specific theme or focus derived from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the national curriculum. Our curriculum operates as a spiral curriculum, ensuring that key areas are revisited in a manner that deepens in complexity and challenge for our pupils over time, enabling our pupils to continually develop their learning in design and technology.

Design and technology lessons at Park Road Academy incorporate a range of teaching strategies, including practical hands-on, computer-based, and inventive tasks, as well as independent tasks, paired, and group work. This variety ensures that lessons are engaging and cater to a diverse range of learning styles. We ensure that our design and technology lessons are differentiated to enable all pupils to access the curriculum, while also offering opportunities to challenge and expand pupils’ learning based on individual need. Each unit of work is supplemented by knowledge organisers which promote the recall of essential facts and vocabulary, supporting the development of strong factual foundations.

Design and technology is taught in half-termly units at Park Road Academy throughout the academic year. This ensures that our pupils fully connect with each unit, grasp the scope of the subject, and immerse themselves in each piece of work, building a thorough understanding. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Department follows the developmental outcomes of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and Development Matters 2020. This curriculum aims for all children to have achieved the Early Learning Goals of ‘Physical Development’ and ‘Expressive Arts and Design’ by the end of the Foundation Phase (Reception).

We are committed to raising the awareness of design and technology throughout our school and this is evident through our exciting displays of pupils' work, whole-school design and technology competitions and our Design and Technology Club, which runs half-termly in line with the teaching of design and technology throughout the school year. This offers our pupils the opportunity to further explore their design, making and evaluative skills, as well as to embrace innovative pathways within the realm of design and technology.

Impact

Pupil progression in design and technology is continually monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Assessment of knowledge, understanding and skills takes place during every lesson through discussion and observations. Teachers track pupil progress at the end of each unit of design and technology work using a Pop Quiz to establish whether a child is working towards, secure in or exceeding the expected standard in each unit of work.

The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary Design and Technology scheme of work is that children will:

• Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources.
• Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products.
• Build and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes, CAD, and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients, and scenarios.
• Understand and apply the principles of healthy eating, diets, and recipes, including key processes, food groups and cooking equipment.
• Have an appreciation for key individuals, inventions, and events in history and of today that impact our world.
• Recognise where our decisions can impact the wider world in terms of community, social and environmental issues.
• Self-evaluate and reflect on learning at different stages and identify areas to improve.
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Design and technology.
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Computing.

Pupil Voice

"Design and technology class is like being a little inventor. I love coming up with new ideas and bringing them to life."

"I never thought I'd enjoy measuring and cutting things, but in design and technology, it's like a fun puzzle I get to solve."

"I feel so proud when I finish a project in design and technology. It's like I've created something that can help people."

2023-2024