Design Technology

‘Design and Technology is about making things that people want and work well. Creating things is hugely exciting: it is an inventive, fun activity.’

James Dyson

Vision & Aims

At Grove Road Primary School Design and Technology is about designing and making products for a specific need or purpose.

It involves children learning about the world we live in and developing a wide range of skills through designing and making. Design Technology encourages children to think creatively to solve problems, both as individuals and as members of a team. Children learn to reflect on and evaluate present and past Design and Technology, its uses and its effectiveness.

Teaching & Learning

A wide range of skills and techniques are taught across the age ranges.

At KS1:

  • 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 ICT
  • Select from & use a range of tools & equipment to perform practical tasks such as cutting, shaping, joining and finishing
  • Select from & use a wide range of materials & components, including construction  materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics
  • Explore & evaluate a range of existing products
  • Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria
  • Build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable
  • Explore and use mechanisms, such as levers, slides, wheels and axles, in their products
  • Use basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
  • Understand where food comes from

At KS2:

  • Use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups
  • Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design
  • Select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks accurately
  • Select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities
  • Investigate and analyse a range of existing products
  • Evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work
  • Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world