Curriculum Intent for DT

In line with our whole school values, the focus for the Halifax Design and Technology (DT) curriculum is: 

- An ambitious curriculum - DT is taught based on the children’s starting points and is progressive across the year groups. Lessons build on pupils’ skills and focus on the stages of design, make and evaluate.  

- Nurture –All children are included in our DT lessons and adaptations are put in place to allow all children to learn and enjoy their DT lessons. This helps to develop their confidence, resilience, and independence.

-Engage curiosity- Children will be engaged and motivated to enjoy exploring design and technology. They will speak animatedly about their DT experiences, ask questions and be able to share their learning.  

-Work collaboratively – Children will work collaboratively and learn from each other as they develop DT skills and apply their new found knowledge to different contexts.

At Halifax, we have developed a curriculum where areas of DT are planned and re-visited in each year group with clear progression to meet the needs for Halifax pupils. Throughout each unit, there are well-defined end points and with opportunities for children to work as designers by creating design criteria, learning new skills and techniques before applying this to a final product. Throughout the design and making process, pupils are encouraged to evaluate the progress they are making before evaluating the final product.

Curriculum Map

Impact – What our pupils say about Design and Technology at Halifax

In all subjects at Halifax, we have Quality of Education reviews where our pupils share their learning and experiences in different subjects. Below is just a small sample of what our Halifax pupils think about DT.

John in Year 4 says, “I like to design products and learn how to make things for when I am older.”

Lily in Year 4 says, “I like working with others to make items.”

Kourtney in Year 6 says, “I like to learn new skills. I like the practical parts of DT and actually making something.”

Maisie in Year 5 says, “It’s important to learn because things are harder than they look, like sewing a button.”