At Little Green, we follow the National Curriculum to ensure children have opportunities to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems. It is important to us that the learning is purposeful and the children are aware and involved with the journey they are on - becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.  We put emphasis on the process rather than the finished product, and reiterate to our pupils that resilience and reflection is key - we learn through making mistakes and adapting.

Time Allocation

In line with our Living Curriculum, at Little Green D&T is taught for 6-10 hours each term, depending on the project being undertaken. This is sometimes blocked into a focussed D&T week, or spread over a half term We always keep in mind having a purpose in what we do, therefore individual year groups decide how and when to include D&T into their topics to complement and enhance the learning for the children.  

Planning

As teachers, we use the National Curriculum attainment targets to ensure coverage, whilst following the Little Green curriculum map to ensure progression. In their designing and making, our pupils apply knowledge and skills of textiles, food, mechanisms, mechanical systems and structures and electrical systems. At Little Green, we place importance of experience and therefore provide the opportunities for children to design, make and evaluate using drawing and modelling skills and generating, exploring and modifying ideas.

Assessment

Class teachers upload examples of children’s work onto the Little Green website and into the Leading Subjects folder on the Google Drive. The examples are used for identifying progression and expectations against the tracking statements on the Foundation Tracker, which is used for future planning. The subject lead uses the evidence and trackers to monitor the impact of the subject across the school. Our pupils keep sketches, plan drawings, paper mock-ups, notes and evaluations, currently in their Topic Books. This method of recording will be evaluated through staff surveys and discussions. 

Management and Organisation of Resources

Each year group is responsible to plan and order resources and consumables as needed, as these will change according to the project. There is currently a central hub of tools in the upper corridor, following the audit of resources, materials and equipment. For the cooking topics, food will be bought and used on the day it is needed. Utensils and equipment for food will be stored in the labelled box in the Dining Room store cupboard. A resource audit based on the curriculum map will assess the equipment needed and then a process of equipment replacement will take place

Health and Safety

There will be a central collection of risk assessments on the Google Drive for most design and technology projects. Class teachers will ensure they have read and familiarised all staff involved prior to each project. This may involve updating and amending for the specific needs of their class and environment, or creating a new one from scratch. The subject leader can offer assistance with this if needed. At Little Green, the safety of all pupils and staff is of utmost importance. All staff teach the safe use of tools and equipment and insist on good practice and, concurrently, our pupils are taught how to take steps to control risks.

Inclusion

At Little Green, inclusion, tolerance, and understanding is at the core of what we do. A wide range of cultural images and contexts are used in design and technology, and we use these opportunities to challenge stereotypes. For all children to produce work to the best of their ability, we plan differentiated resources and tasks, including but not limited to, adapted worksheets; changing the demands of a task; greater teacher intervention, small group work and teaching assistant support; ensuring manipulative skills needed are manageable; selecting appropriate tools and equipment. Children who show a greater depth of talent and aptitude are challenged through more demanding tasks such as open-ended design tasks; rigorous testing of their products; carrying out independent research; giving additional responsibilities, such as leading a team.

Our pupils will have clear enjoyment and confidence in design and technology that they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum. We will see evidence, through the work completed, pupil voice and self-evaluation, that the children know more, remember more and understand more about design and technology, They will enthusiastically demonstrate this knowledge when using tools or skills in other areas of the curriculum and in opportunities out of school. To show impact, the large majority of children will achieve age related expectations when measured against the NC attainment targets; there will also be progression when measured against the pupil's own design and technology journey.