We aim to prepare children for the rapidly ever-changing technologies. Design and Technology at Queenswell Schools will provide children with the tools to deal with problems they face in everyday life. 

Queenswell Schools provides a balanced programme for Design and Technology where children will have experiences involving structures, mechanisms, food technology, materials and/or textiles, electronics and computing.

DT at Queenswell will be relevant to children’s understanding and promote thinking around issues such as target audience, marketing and usefulness. We follow the National Curriculum objectives to ensure full coverage and appropriate progression of skills, which are: mechanisms, electronics, structures, food and textiles.
 

When designing and making, children will be taught to:
Design

• Design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria; 

• Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology.

Make

• Select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing];

• Select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics.

Evaluate

• Explore and evaluate a range of existing products;

• Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria.

Technical knowledge

• Build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable;

• Explore and use mechanisms [for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles] in their products.

Cooking and nutrition
As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

In Key Stage 1 children will be taught to use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes, as well as understand where food comes from.

Children in Key stage 2 will be taught to understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet:

• Prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques; and

• Understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed. 

Children’s outcomes will be documented in individual books, showing a balance of the different skills. It will also highlight the progress of individuals through their development of designs, outcomes and their evaluations.