Design & Technology

Curriculum Purpose

Preparing students for careers and furthering social justice

Our curriculum and lessons will give students the opportunity to choose from a wide range of STEAM careers. To do this, our students will achieve a P8 score of +1. A thorough academic DT education will also provide the knowledge and skills to allow students to be problem solvers, creative designers and skilful manufacturers, within DT and other professional roles.

Knowledge acquisition as a measure of progress

We believe we should encourage children to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. We aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as mathematics, science, computing and art. Students are also given opportunities to reflect upon and evaluate past and present design technology, its uses and its effectiveness and are encouraged to become innovators and risk-takers.

The needs of our community

Cultural capital is explored across the key stages by appreciation of the work of others locally, nationally and internationally. Each subject identifies and relates projects and content to real contextual challenges focussing upon people, communities or businesses, with a particular focus on the local area that surrounds Trinity Academy.

Teaching DT for its intrinsic value

We believe that the DT is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject which prepares all young people to live and work in the designed and made world. Our curriculum and lessons will give students the skills and knowledge that will ignite imagination, solve real life problems and develop an awareness of the current issues designers face in modern society.

Curriculum Rationale

What is taught and why?

Design and Technology gives students the opportunity to problem solve, learn the skills to process raw materials to manufactured products and to develop social, environmental and aesthetic awareness. Much of the content of the subject is explored through project work, with students following a design process. This process can be broadly summarised as a sequence of steps: researching, designing, manufacturing and evaluating (although often when engaged in a project these steps may not be so sequential, for example with students returning to the research phase when an error is spotted in the design phase). Within each project, students regularly encounter big ideas, or ‘threshold concepts’. These include key skills (equipment, tools and processes), social, moral and environmental issues, materials and their working properties, new and emerging technologies and health and safety.

The curriculum has been designed as appropriately sequenced projects with sufficient time for their full completion. Often in lessons key skills or procedures are modelled in a demonstration (what we call an ‘I do’) before students attempt it (what we call a ‘you do’). These two aspects (time and demonstration) allow students to physically produce high-quality manufactured products from raw materials.

Why is it taught in that sequence?

Students start Design and Technology in Year 9. They are first introduced to key aspects of health and safety before beginning practical work. Students then move onto projects based around woodwork skills (in particular marking out, cutting, shaping and finishing) and are then introduced to key design skills of technical drawing and then 3D modelling using CAD. For those students taking the subject to GCSE, two large project-based pieces of coursework (directed by the exam board) are completed alongside appropriate theory lessons.