At All Saints Church School, we believe that every child is a designer, maker and problem solver. Through our Design and Technology curriculum, we aim to inspire creativity, curiosity and resilience, enabling children to design purposeful products, develop practical skills and understand how design and technology shape the world around them. 

How do we teach Design and Technology at All Saints? 

Our Design and Technology curriculum provides children with exciting opportunities to design, make, evaluate and improve products for a range of real-life purposes. Through carefully planned projects, children develop their creativity, technical knowledge and practical skills whilst learning to think critically and solve problems. 

Each year, children complete projects from the three key areas of Design and Technology: Textiles, Cooking and Nutrition, and Structures and Mechanisms. Throughout these units, children follow the design process by exploring existing products, designing their own solutions, creating high-quality outcomes and evaluating their effectiveness. As they move through the school, children build upon their knowledge and skills, becoming increasingly confident and independent designers.  

   

Our curriculum encourages children to be innovative and resourceful whilst developing an understanding of how Design and Technology influences everyday life. Children learn a range of practical skills, including sewing, cooking, construction, mechanical systems and electrical systems, whilst considering the needs of users and the purpose of their designs. 

We encourage children to take risks, learn from mistakes and refine their ideas through testing and evaluation. Through practical exploration and hands-on experiences, pupils learn that successful design often involves adapting and improving ideas to achieve the best possible outcome. 

By the time our children leave Year 6, we want them to feel confident in their ability to design, make and evaluate products, understand the role of Design and Technology in society and appreciate how creativity and innovation can solve real-world problems. We aim for every child to leave primary school with a sense of pride in their achievements and the confidence to apply their skills in the future. 

EYFS Design and Technology 

Young children are naturally curious and enjoy exploring how things work. At All Saints, we provide a rich and stimulating environment that encourages children to investigate, create, build and solve problems through hands-on experiences. 

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, Design and Technology is taught through the Expressive Arts and Design area of learning. Children are encouraged to explore materials, tools and techniques whilst developing their imagination, creativity and fine motor skills. Through construction, model making, junk modelling, cooking activities and imaginative play, children begin to understand how they can design and create for a purpose. 

Children are given opportunities to experiment, test ideas and talk about their creations, helping them to develop confidence, resilience and independence. They learn that there are many ways to solve a problem and that adapting and improving ideas is an important part of the creative process. 

Our aim is to provide an inclusive and inspiring environment where all children can develop a love of designing and making, build confidence in their abilities and establish the foundations for future learning in Design and Technology. We want every child to see themselves as a capable and creative designer who is ready to explore, create and innovate. 

Our Design and Technology roadmap shows the themes of Design and Technology and how knowledge, skills and technical understanding progress and build upon each other as children move through our school. 

 

At All Saints Church School, we have a whole-school ethos of being Ready, Respectful and Safe. Our Design and Technology curriculum encourages children to develop these values through practical exploration, collaboration and problem-solving. We teach children to work safely with tools, equipment and materials whilst respecting the ideas, designs and contributions of others. 

Through engaging and purposeful projects, children learn to persevere when faced with challenges, think creatively and work collaboratively to find solutions. They develop an understanding that successful designs are often the result of careful planning, testing and refinement. 

By providing inspiring and memorable Design and Technology experiences, we aim to nurture confident, curious and innovative learners who understand the importance of design in everyday life. Through designing, making and evaluating, children develop the knowledge, skills and resilience needed to become creative thinkers and problem solvers both within school and beyond. 

Our curriculum helps children build practical skills alongside an understanding of how Design and Technology contributes to the wider world. We want our pupils to leave All Saints with the confidence to create, innovate and apply their learning to real-life situations, knowing that their ideas have the potential to make a difference. 

STEAM 

The National Curriculum states that, ‘Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject’, which enables pupils to draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.

At All Saints we support this statement through STEAM. STEAM supports our DT and science curriculum and is interwoven with our topics. Through this approach, we encourage our children to be confident to ask questions, take risks and to not be afraid of failure, but instead view it as an opportunity to learn. 

Extra Curricular

To enhance our science curriculum, we provide a range of extra curricular experiences and opportunities for our children. The Friends of All Saints have developed an annual STEAM challenge in which the children will be able to participate, with an aim to encourage our children to understand that scientists and engineers are a vital part of our world.   

  

   Jesus says, “All things are possible if you believe.”   Mark 9:23