Design and Technology

At St. Monica’s our Mission Statement prompts us all to ‘Never stop trying’ and ‘Aim to be the best we can be’. In planning how we teach DT, these statements imply a curriculum in which children are enabled to use creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems. They learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. 

Design and technology prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world and to develop a curiosity and interest within it. Creative thinking encourages children to make positive changes to their quality of life. The subject encourages children to become independent and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond by developing ideas, and eventually making products and systems. Through the study of design and technology they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as of functions and practices from science and industry. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impacts. Design and technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators.

The objectives of teaching design and technology are:

• to develop imaginative thinking in children and to enable them to talk about what they like and dislike when designing and making things;

• to develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world;

• to build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of uses;

• to critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others

• to enable children to talk about how things work, and to draw and model their ideas including the use of ICT;

• to encourage children to select appropriate tools and techniques for making a product, whilst following safe procedures;

• to explore attitudes towards the designed world and how we live and work within it;

• to develop an understanding of technological processes, enterprise and products, their manufacture and their contribution to our society;

• to foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making things;

• to help children apply their knowledge, skills and experiences from other subjects, to their design and technology work;

• to develop children’s technical language;

• to understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook;

• to display children’s design and finished products attractively, providing opportunities for evaluation and discussion