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Design and Technology

“Design is thinking made visual.”

Saul Bass

The Design and Technology curriculum at Stansfield Hall has been carefully crafted to make the children look through the world to discover not just what is there, but how it works.   

Using KAPOW as a starting framework we have consciously selected units that provide children with the knowledge and skills to be able to fully understand the purpose and usefulness and processes involved in the many aspects of our world. Our D&T curriculum will provide opportunities to solve real and relevant problems, allowing our pupils to develop essential everyday skills and unlock their potential to be the designers and innovators of tomorrow.  

At Stansfield Hall, we break our learning down into three phases and each phase has set milestones we expect our children to achieve. Each unit of Design and Technology at Stansfield Hall contains clear progression of knowledge and coverage of core skills.  

In EYFS, design and technology has links with the Early Years Framework in Understanding the World, Physical Development and Expressive Arts and Design. Children are encouraged to incorporate their exploration of the natural world to stimulate enquiry as to how the world around them works. In PD they begin to use small tools to create, and in EAAD they combine these skills to choose what to make and how to make it.  

From Nursery to Year 6, our children figure out how to design, create and evaluate their own creations using the technical skills they develop and apply them appropriately.  

Our design curriculum takes each of our children through different designs opportunities, with clear progression in each area.  

We cover:  

• Mechanisms  
• Structures  
• Textiles  
• Food 
• Electrical systems   
• Digital world   

The Kapow Primary scheme is a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including practical hands-on, computer-based and inventive tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles.  

Throughout all of these, children are supported to continually develop their skills, trusting in their ability to produce designs that impact the world.  

For a more detailed look at our Design and Technology curriculum, to see how skills and vocabulary are developed throughout and how knowledge is introduced and revisited through the curriculum please see our full curriculum overview document below.