Design and Technology Policy

 At Magor school we aim to provide children with the capability to recognise and explore people's needs and wants, to develop ideas about how these might be met and to develop products that meet these needs. In order to do this the children need to develop a repertoire of skills and knowledge which will include;

(i)           designing skills

(ii)           making skills

(iii)           evaluation skills

(iv)         knowledge and understanding of the materials and components that could be     used

(v)       knowledge and understanding of mechanisms and control systems that could be  used

(vi)            knowledge and understanding of existing products that could provide starting    points and ideas

(vii)          knowledge and understanding of quality, health, safety and vocabulary.

Opportunities to develop these skills will be provided under three main headings

1.     Design and make activities

2.     Focussed practical tasks

3.     Investigation, disassembling and evaluation activities.

Every child will undertake each of these activities at least once per term, often in work related to the class topic, but not necessarily so. Some projects are undertaken as a group activity others individually, both at K.S.I. and K.S.2. Also, at K.S.2., some projects are team efforts.

When designing and making an object the children are encouraged to develop an ability to explore what the task requires and to use previous understanding to generate initial ideas that might be suitable.

At K.S.I, they do this by talking, handling materials, using construction kits, and where appropriate, drawing.

At K.S.2. they should be more involved in finding out information useful to their designing as well as drawing on their knowledge and experience. They should try out their ideas and be able to suggest alternatives. Older K.S.2. children should use a variety of information sources and be very aware of the intended user of the product. They should use a range of modelling techniques and be able to justify decisions they make. Their planning and evaluation should be detailed.

Furthermore, the evaluation of their work also becomes more important as they become older, and should, by the end of K.S.2. result in detailed written evaluations saying what worked, what didn't, what was easy, what was hard, how they overcame the difficulties and possible improvements that could be made if the task was carried out again.  

Early Years

In D.T. the desirable outcomes include working with a wide variety of materials to include sand, water, clay, playdough, food, fabric and construction kits. The emphasis is on practice and manipulation skills; discussion and awareness of tools and materials; what they can and cannot do in order for them to continue the design process in years 1 and 2. Activities include role play, model making and practising skills such as shaping, moulding, chopping and mixing.

S.E.N.

At Magor school every effort is made to ensure that all children have the opportunity to develop their D.T. skills to the best of their ability. Children with S.E.N. are encouraged to undertake similar projects to the rest of the class, but the teacher will always be aware of the difficulties which they may encounter because of their S.E.N., and help them to overcome them, particularly language and physical difficulties. Nursery nurses, classroom assistants and informed parent-helpers can be used effectively to help these children become confident and independent.

Common Requirements

Where possible opportunities should be made for pupils to develop and apply the common requirements as detailed in 'Key Stages 1 and 2 of the National Curriculum in Wales'.

Use of resources

The children should be taught to use materials economically and should be encouraged to think ahead and organise their resources, including time.

K.S. 1. children are given opportunities to work with the following materials

Paper and card

Junk material

Fabric and trimmings

Raw ingredients (including food and clay)

A selection of construction kits.

K.S.2. children use the above plus

A wider variety of card

Plastic sheet material

Wood

Plastic tubing

Straws

Wire, bulbs, motors

A selection of kits that allow mechanisms and structures to be built.

Skills leamt in other curriculum areas (e.g. Maths, Science, History and Art) are used in D.T. As they work throughthe two key stages their work should become more accurate and detailed. K.S.2. drawings should show measurements and details of materials to be used and methods of fixing, making joints, etc. 

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