The leader for Design & Technology is Mrs Matusiak.

Design and Technology

At our school, Design and Technology is taught through the Kapow Primary scheme, which provides a broad, balanced and inspiring curriculum. DT encourages children to become creative problem-solvers, developing their practical skills, resilience and innovation through a range of exciting projects.

Pupils learn to design, make and evaluate products for real-life purposes while developing knowledge and skills in the key areas of:

• Structures
• Mechanisms
• Textiles
• Cooking and Nutrition
• Electrical Systems
• Digital World

Through hands-on learning experiences, children build confidence in designing and creating products, working safely with tools and materials and reflecting on how their designs can be improved. DT lessons also develop important life skills such as teamwork, communication, critical thinking and perseverance.

The Kapow curriculum ensures that knowledge and skills are carefully sequenced from Reception to Year 6, enabling children to build on their learning over time and become confident and capable designers.

Our DT curriculum helps pupils understand how design and technology impacts everyday life and inspires them to think creatively about the world around them.

How is D&T taught across Key Stages?

Design and Technology is a foundation subject taught throughout the year following the Kapow Primary scheme. Units are carefully sequenced to ensure clear progression of knowledge and skills from EYFS through to KS2. Each year group covers a range of DT strands, including cooking and nutrition, structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems and the digital world (KS2). Learning is delivered through the design–make–evaluate cycle, enabling pupils to research, design, make and evaluate purposeful products. Lessons are practical and hands-on, with pupils developing skills through teacher modelling, guided practice and increasing independence. Knowledge and skills are revisited and built upon each year to support progression and mastery. Assessment is ongoing and includes end-of-unit quizzes, evaluation against unit end points and teacher judgement. Progress is tracked termly using SONAR and evidence of learning is recorded in individual DT folders.

What would you see in a DT lesson at Irk Valley?

You will see:

• Teachers with strong subject knowledge delivering engaging, practical and purposeful Design and Technology lessons.
• Children linking learning to real-life contexts, such as food, structures, mechanisms, textiles and everyday products.
• Teachers using key vocabulary consistently, supported through modelling, visuals and repetition to embed understanding.
• Lessons building on prior learning, carefully sequenced and well-resourced to support progression across year groups.
• Revisiting and reinforcing key vocabulary and skills at the start and throughout each lesson.
• Teachers guiding children to explore, question and solve problems through the design–make–evaluate process.
• Pupils thinking like designers and engineers, generating ideas, planning, making, testing and improving their work.
• A classroom culture that encourages curiosity, creativity and resilience, where experimentation is valued.
• Children working as designers and makers, independently and collaboratively to create purposeful products.
• A range of teaching strategies including discussion, modelling, paired and group work and hands-on practical activities to develop understanding.
• Teachers modelling the safe and effective use of tools, materials and equipment, ensuring safe practice at all times.