MEET OUR SUBJECT LEADER

Mrs Ismail is our leader of design and technology. She is passionate about children being given the opportunity to design, make and evaluate real life quality products that link with the world of industry. Mrs Ismail inspires our teachers and children to be innovate and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation and evaluation. She believes that by providing children the opportunity to take part in design and technology projects, helps prepare them for the world of work and encourages the development of enquiring minds.

Design and Technology (D&T) is an important subject within the National Curriculum as it states that ‘high-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.’ Therefore, it is vital that all pupils are given numerous opportunities to use and develop their creativity and imagination when designing and making products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts.

Effective teaching of D&T ensures that pupils are encouraged to take risks and apply a broad range of skills and subject knowledge from other areas in the curriculum, such as mathematics, science, art and computing. They also need to evaluate past and present inventions and consider the impact they have on daily life. D&T education aims to develop the creative, technical and practical expertise of all pupils so that they can design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users and purposes, in addition to being able to confidently participate in an increasingly technological world. They need to be able to critique and evaluate their own and others’ work, as well as test their ideas and adapt them when things go wrong. All pupils must also have a good understanding of nutrition and make simple dishes safely within a kitchen. However, the most important aim is to ensure that all pupils are learning to become resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens that can thrive within the modern world.

At St Barnabas and St Paul’s, we strive to provide all of our pupils with an inspiring D&T education which allows them to develop their own creativity and practical skills, so that they are able to create unique and effective products. We strongly believe in the importance of encouraging children to become independent thinkers and risk-takers when designing and making, as well as ensuring that they continue to persevere when a planned action does not produce the desired outcome. All children will be taught the practical and technical skills that allow them to design and make a wide range of products and prototypes with increasing confidence and difficulty, starting from Reception. Every child will also be learning about nutrition and food safety, as well as being provided with the opportunity to make a savoury or sweet dish in each year group. They will be supported by enthusiastic and creative teachers, who teach high-quality D&T lessons every term and model their own design and making processes, so that the pupils are aware of the importance of evaluating and refining their designs as they work. They will receive various opportunities to explore and research different inventions, inventors and designers throughout their D&T education, which will allow them to develop their own analytical skills and understanding. Children will be encouraged to create their own design criteria focusing on the purpose and needs of the user, with increasing accuracy, so that all children have full ownership of their work and create a unique product. Through the teaching of D&T, we aim to ensure all children will feel empowered and valued, so that they can continue to develop into innovative, resourceful and creative members of our society.

As a school, we have chosen to teach D&T using units from Kapow. We have chosen Kapow as the scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through our scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements.

Our D&T scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum and the aims also align with those in the National curriculum. EYFS (Reception) units provide opportunities for pupils’ to work towards the Development matters statements and the Early Learning Goals.

“Every great design begins with an even better story.” Lorinda Mamo.