Design and Technology

Intent

Design and Technology at Redhill aims to inspire creative problem-solving in children of all ages while raising their awareness of what it means to live in a world of engineered and designed products. By looking with a fresh perspective on products in the world around us, pupils at Redhill learn to see the design decisions that have been made in even the smallest or most common-place product and how considerations of function and form combine to produce successful products.

With strong links to Maths and Science, Design and Technology is a subject that is firmly embedded in a cross-curricular approach to learning. The importance of language and vocabulary is developed through learning new words to precise words to do with the materials and techniques that are part of the Design and Technology curriculum while the need to explain and justify decisions means that our learners have the opportunity to develop their spoken and written language skills in a meaningful context.

When making functional products, children at Redhill work through a design cycle that includes a strong emphasis on examining and understanding real products before designing, making and evaluating products of their own. Whether working with textiles, food, 3D structures or control-technology, Design and Technology at Redhill begins with a problem that must be solved creatively and innovatively with a focus on learning from the real world.

While designing people-centred products is at the heart of Design and Technology, children at Redhill are asked to consider issues to do with sustainability, thinking about how their products can be designed to both fulfil their design specifications while also minimising their impact on the environment in terms of the materials they use and the waste they produce.

Design and Technology

Redhill Curriculum: DT Overview
	Autumn Term	Spring Term	Summer Term
Reception	How things work	Experimenting with colours and materials	Developing ideas
Year 1	Structures	Food Technology	Moving pictures
Year 2	Winding mechanisms	Healthy food	Sewing
Year 3	Free-standing structures	Making 3D structures from 2D nets	Food technology
Year 4	Textiles	Food technology	Circuits and switches
Year 5	Cams	Levers and linkages	Food technology
Year 6	Food technology	Structures	Control

Key Three

DT Co-Ordinator

If you have any questions about this area of the curriculum, please feel free to get in touch with the co-ordinator either through Class Dojo or by contacting the school office.