Intent

At Ettington Church of England Primary School, we aspire to live out God’s plan for all to flourish. We believe in providing our children with varied opportunities to use and develop the gifts and talents they have been blessed with, to ensure they embrace “Life in its fullness”.

We understand that Design and technology prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. Creative thinking encourages children to make positive changes to their quality of life. The subject encourages children to become autonomous and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond by developing ideas and eventually making products and systems. Through the study of design and technology, they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues.

Implementation

At Ettington C of E Primary School, the teaching of design and technology is cross curricular; one DT project will always encompass many other subjects because the very nature of looking at a real-life problem and creating a product to solve it, uses such a wide variety of skills.

Investigative and Evaluative Activities (IEAs), Focused Tasks (FTs) and a Design, Make and Evaluate Assignment (DMEA) is included in each project. In a typical DT lesson, you will see enthusiastic learners looking at a problem and sharing their ideas on how it could be solved. They will be evaluating existing products and using them to inspire a product of their own. They will create their design, sometimes using CAD software and they will always be evaluating what is going well and how improvements can be made. The evaluation process it iterative and is therefore ongoing throughout their project. When making their products, their designs are tweaked and changed along the way based on problem solving and this reflects the way the design process works in industry.

Our Ettington School children will always be, “Designing something, for somebody, for some purpose.” The children also study famous designers, engineers and key events which have shaped the world we live in today. Our projects are purposeful and give children the opportunity to work with a range of materials whereby they can create structures and models, use mechanisms, electrical circuits, textiles and food.

Children at Ettington School study three DT projects per year, one of which will always be to do with food. The study of food and nutrition, and food preparation, is based on the importance of a having a healthy, balanced diet.

Our DT projects follow the six principles of Design and Technology. These are:

• User - who the products are for
• Purpose - what tasks the products will perform
• Functionality - how the products will work
• Design Decisions - the opportunities children have to make choice
• Innovation - the scope children have to be original with their thinking
• Authenticity - how believable/real the products will be to the children

Early Years Foundation Stage

During the EYFS pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. They have the opportunities to learn to:

• Use different media and materials to express their own ideas
• Use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about form, function and purpose 
• Make plans and construct with a purpose in mind using a variety of resources
• Develop skills to use simple tools and techniques appropriately, effectively and safely 
• Select appropriate resources for a product and adapt their work where necessary
• Cook and prepare food adhering to good health and hygiene routine