Design & Technology at Brightwell

"We are Designers and Engineers"

 

 

Curriculum Intent

At Brightwell School, every child has the opportunity to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to design and make functional products. We feel it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring the designed and made world in which we all live and work.

 

Curriculum Implementation

The teaching and implementation of the Design and Technology Curriculum at Brightwell School is based on the National Curriculum and is linked to class topics wherever possible, to ensure a well-structured approach to this creative subject.

Children have access to key knowledge, language and meanings in order to understand and readily apply to their work in DT and across the wider curriculum.

 

Early Years Foundation Stage

Pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child-initiated and adult-directed activities.

 

They have the opportunity to learn to:

  • Explore the textures, movement, feel and look of different media and materials
  • Respond to a range of media and materials, develop their understanding of them in order to manipulate and create different effects.
  • Use different media and materials to express their own ideas
  • Explore colour and use colour for a particular purpose
  • Develop skills to use simple tools and techniques competently and appropriately
  • Select appropriate media and techniques and adapt their work where necessary

 

Key stage 1

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in the process of designing and making. They work in a range of relevant contexts; this will range from the home and school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider environment.

 

When designing and making, pupils are taught to:

Design:

  • To design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria often linked to the class topic
  • To generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing and templates

Make:

  • To select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks (for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing)
  • To select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients

Evaluate:

  • To explore and evaluate a range of existing products
  • To evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria

Technical knowledge:

  • To build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable
  • To explore and use mechanisms (for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles), in their products

 

Key stage 2

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in the process of designing and making. They work in a range of relevant contexts; this will include and range from the home and school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider environment and is often linked to their class topic.

 

When designing and making, pupils are taught to:

Design:

  • To use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose and aimed at particular individuals or groups
  • To generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design

Make:

  • To select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks accurately
  • To select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities

Evaluate:

  • To investigate and analyse a range of existing products
  • To evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work
  • To understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world

Technical knowledge:

  • To apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures
  • To understand and use mechanical systems in their products 
  • To understand and use electrical systems in their products (for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors)

 

Cooking and nutrition

As part of their work with food, pupils are taught how to cook and to apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils opens a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

 

Pupils are taught to:

Key stage 1

  • To use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
  • To understand where food comes from

Key stage 2

  • To understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet
  • To prepare and cook a variety of dishes using a range of cooking techniques
  • To understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed

  

Please see our Curriculum Overviews on the class pages for further details of what the children are learning.