Design Technology Curriculum - The Big Picture

Designing, Making & Evaluating
In EYFS, children explore the world and develop their understanding of how different aspects of the world work. They select and use appropriate tools and material to accomplish tasks and work collaboratively to achieve this. We encourage the development of skills, knowledge and understanding that help children make sense of their world. We relate this development to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals. This learning forms the foundations for later work in design and technology.

In KS1 and KS2, through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught to design, make and evaluate purposeful products for themselves and other users; using a range of tools and materials. Children will learn how to design, make and evaluate products in the following areas of D&T: structures, mechanisms, textiles, food, and electrical systems* (*KS2 only).
Children will have the opportunity to experience D&T over the course of three units per year. When D&T is taught in KS1, this lays the foundation for children to build on their learning later in KS2, ensuring that there is progression in children’s learning as they move up through the school.

Technical Knowledge
In each D&T unit there is an element of specific technical knowledge that the children must learn in order to successfully design. make and evaluate their products. By the end of KS2, children should learn: to build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger and more stable; to explore and construct working mechanisms (eg, levers, sliders, wheels, axles, gears, pulleys and cams); how textile products are joined together using a range of joining techniques (eg, glueing or sewing); and to use electrical components in their products (eg, circuits switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors).

Cooking & Nutrition
Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life. By the end of KS2, pupils should learn to: understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet; prepare and cook a variety of dishes using a range of cooking techniques; and understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared and processed.