Design & Technology
The intent of our Design and Technology curriculum is:
To inspire children through studies of engineers, designers, chefs and architects to enable them to create a range of structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems and food products with a real life purpose.
At Birkbeck, we believe that Design and Technology is crucial in both understanding how the world around us came to be as it is now and also why it has been designed that way. Children also develop their understanding of the links between DT and other subjects like Art and Maths and Science and so we see DT as vital to children understanding how flexible and adaptable the knowledge they learn in school really is.
Our curriculum coverage posters provide information about which units are taught in which year groups and the order in which they are taught. You can view the Design and technology one below:
Our curriculum is built around a series of key concepts which are strategically revisited at various points in the units of work children do from Year 1 to 6. This enables us to develop their knowledge in a deep and transferable way which makes what they know easier to retrieve and use when they need it. This also means that new knowledge is being built on existing knowledge, making it easier for children to quicky reach a deeper level of understanding. This is fundamental to our mission to facilitate the development of expertise within our pupils. You can read more about the threads of concept we include in our curriculum and how they are developed in each year group below.
concept thread development dt.pdf
Below you can see the development of our key concept threads in grid form so that you can see how each one is progressed and developed as children move through the school.
dt curriculum thread development table.pdf
You can also read about the precise knowledge coverage of each of our units of work by clicking on the second link below.
curriculum content by subject dt.pdf
Lesson delivery
Every Design and Technology lesson begins with a retrieval practice starter which has the aim of activating prior knowledge around the concept thread which the lesson to come is focused on.
Every lesson also includes clarification of any technical vocabulary to be used in the lesson. This always takes place before the main lesson content begins.
All Design and Technology lessons are delivered in line with our principles of teaching and learning which are the same for all subjects. These are the principles that we believe underpin truly great teaching and learning. You can read about how these are applied to Design and Technology lessons below:
birkbeck primary school dt implementation guide 1 .pdf
Assessment
We assess Design Technology once per term. Teachers assess children's body of work against a set of descriptors which match the threads of concept that our Design and Technology curriculum is designed by. As such, the curriculum is the model for progression that we follow and assess against. Assessment is reported to parents and carers every term at parents evening.
