Design and Technology Intent

At Bottesford Schools Federation, we believe Design and Technology inspires children to become creative, innovative and resourceful thinkers. Through an engaging and ambitious curriculum, pupils are encouraged to strive to design and make purposeful products that solve real and relevant problems. We want children to develop the confidence to take risks, explore their ideas and recognise that mistakes and challenges are an important and valuable part of the design process.

Our Design and Technology curriculum is carefully sequenced to develop pupils’ knowledge and skills progressively. Our bespoke programme of study is underpinned by the National Curriculum and informed by Projects on a Page (POAP) resources and CPD. Our progression of knowledge and skills ensures that previous learning is revisited and built upon, enabling children to know more, remember more and apply their learning with increasing independence.

Throughout their learning, children develop the key skills of researching, practising, designing, making and evaluating. They are empowered to make decisions, select appropriate tools, materials and techniques, and apply their developing technical knowledge to turn their ideas into successful products. Lessons promote curiosity, imagination and individual creativity, giving pupils opportunities to investigate existing products, explore possibilities and find their own solutions to design challenges.

We recognise that the design process does not always go to plan. Pupils are encouraged to strive, persevere and see mistakes as opportunities to learn, adapt and improve. Their confidence is developed through encouragement and recognition of their ideas and contributions, however tentative. This creates an environment in which children feel confident to experiment, take appropriate risks and develop a positive attitude towards learning new practical, technical and engineering skills.

We promote integrity by encouraging pupils to take ownership of their designs, make thoughtful choices and evaluate their work honestly. Children learn to reflect critically on both the design process and their finished products, considering what has been successful and identifying how their work could be refined or improved.

Through Design and Technology, pupils develop respect for the ideas, designs and achievements of others. They explore products and learn about designers, engineers, architects, inventors and technologists from a diverse range of cultures, backgrounds and periods of history. This develops pupils’ cultural capital, challenges stereotypes and helps them appreciate how design, engineering and technology have shaped the world around them.

Where appropriate, pupils are also encouraged to consider sustainability and the environmental impact of the products they design and make. They consider the materials and resources they use, waste and reuse, and how responsible design choices can contribute towards a more sustainable future.

Through our “We RISE together” values of Respect, Integrity, Strive and Empowered, we aim to ensure that every child develops the creativity, practical skills, technical knowledge, resilience and confidence to become an imaginative problem-solver.

Bottesford Technologists will…

• Research existing products and use what they discover to inspire their own ideas.
• Design purposeful, functional and appealing products for a clear user and purpose.
• Practise and develop a range of practical and technical skills before applying them independently.
• Make products confidently and safely, selecting and using appropriate tools, equipment, materials and components.
• Apply their technical knowledge and understanding to solve problems and make informed design decisions.
• Evaluate their own products and those of others, identifying strengths and considering how designs could be improved.
• Strive to overcome challenges, recognising that mistakes and unsuccessful designs are valuable opportunities for learning.
• Be empowered to take risks, experiment, make decisions and express their own creativity.
• Show integrity by taking pride in their work, making responsible choices and evaluating their designs honestly.
• Respect the ideas and achievements of designers, engineers and technologists from different cultures, backgrounds and periods of history.
• Consider sustainability, including the materials they choose, how resources are used and the environmental impact of their designs.
• Think like a technologist – being curious, creative, innovative and confident when finding solutions to real-world problems.

Design and Technology in our Federation

Design and Technology is taught progressively across the federation, with children developing the foundations of designing, making and evaluating at the infant school before building upon these skills through more complex projects at the junior school.

• Design and Technology is taught through planned units across the year, following our  Long-Term Plan (LTP), ensuring appropriate curriculum coverage and progression.
• Planning follows our bespoke curriculum programme of study, underpinned by Projects on a Page (POAP) resources, subject-specific CPD and the requirements of the National Curriculum.
• Our progression of knowledge and skills document has been informed by the POAP programme of study and the National Curriculum, ensuring that knowledge, vocabulary and practical skills build progressively as children move through the federation.
• Pupils are explicitly taught and given opportunities to apply the key elements of the design process: researching, practising, designing, making and evaluating.
• Children develop an increasingly broad range of technical and engineering skills, learning how to select and use tools, equipment, materials and components safely and effectively.
• Learning encourages children to develop a positive attitude towards problem-solving, experimentation and engineering. Children understand that designs can be changed, adapted and improved.
• Children’s confidence is developed through encouragement, constructive feedback and recognition of all contributions, including tentative ideas and early attempts.
• Lessons promote curiosity, imagination and individual creativity, encouraging children to explore their own ideas rather than simply replicate a finished product.
• Children are given opportunities to revisit and apply previous knowledge and skills so that learning becomes increasingly secure, independent and sophisticated.
• Where meaningful, pupils consider sustainability, including material choices, reducing waste, reusing resources and the wider environmental impact of design.
• Pupils encounter a diverse range of designers, engineers, inventors and technologists, developing their cultural capital and understanding of the relevance of Design and Technology beyond the classroom.