At Durdans Park Primary School, we believe Design and Technology is a powerful vehicle for curiosity, innovation and purposeful learning. Our aspirational curriculum is designed to equip every child with the creative confidence and critical thinking skills needed to become future-focused problem solvers and imaginative designers.

Aims
Our Design and Technology curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Design purposefully and creatively, responding to real-world problems with functional, appealing and innovative solutions for a range of users.
• Develop practical skills and technical knowledge across structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems, food and computer-aided design, using tools and materials safely and confidently.
• Apply and connect learning from mathematics, science, computing and English to deepen understanding and solve complex design challenges.
• Work through an iterative design process—investigating, planning, making and evaluating—with increasing independence, precision and reflection.
• Use subject-specific vocabulary and visual communication techniques (e.g. diagrams, models, annotated sketches) to express their ideas clearly and effectively.
• Critically evaluate their own work and the work of others, considering function, aesthetics, sustainability, and user needs.
• Understand nutrition and develop cooking skills, learning to plan and prepare healthy dishes safely and hygienically.
• Collaborate respectfully and inclusively, sharing ideas and supporting one another through discussion, peer feedback and group tasks.

We provide rich, hands-on learning experiences that reflect the real world and inspire pupils to engage actively with the entire design process: exploring, planning, creating, and evaluating. From EYFS through to Upper KS2, children learn to work both independently and collaboratively, applying knowledge from across the curriculum—particularly maths, science, and English—within a practical context.

Our curriculum aligns with and exceeds the expectations of the National Curriculum by:

• Embedding purposeful, age-appropriate opportunities for making and testing prototypes using a broad range of materials and tools.

• Encouraging innovation and risk-taking through project-based learning that develops technical knowledge, design thinking, and evaluative judgement.

• Integrating digital literacy and computer control into projects to ensure pupils develop the essential skills for a technological future.

Children explore how design impacts their daily lives and how they, as young designers, can shape a more sustainable, inclusive and innovative world. After-school clubs offer further challenge and enrichment, enabling pupils to deepen their understanding and pursue their interests in greater depth.

We promote inclusive and adaptive teaching, ensuring all learners, including those with SEND or motor skill development needs, have equitable access to the curriculum. Through scaffolded resources, visual aids, adaptive recording methods, and a strong emphasis on teacher modelling, every child is supported to succeed and thrive.

In EYFS, we lay the foundation for this learning by developing fine motor skills and early design awareness through play, mark-making and creative exploration. These early experiences spark joy in making and provide a springboard into KS1 and beyond.

Above all, our vision is to inspire a lifelong passion for creativity, craftsmanship, and innovation, ensuring our pupils leave primary school not only with the skills to design and make but also with the confidence to lead, improve, and reimagine the world around them.

By the end of Year 6, our pupils will be confident, capable and curious designers, well-equipped with the knowledge, skills and mindset to succeed in secondary education and beyond.

By the end of Year 6, pupils at Durdans Park will:

• Think and act as designers, demonstrating creativity, resourcefulness, and the ability to solve real-life problems with purposeful, well-made products.
• Apply their knowledge of mechanisms, structures, textiles, electrical systems, and food confidently and appropriately across a range of increasingly complex tasks.
• Understand the importance of user, purpose, and functionality when designing for others, and use technical vocabulary to explain their thinking clearly.
• Work both independently and collaboratively to generate, develop, model, and communicate ideas using annotated sketches, exploded diagrams, and computer-aided design (CAD) tools.
• Select and use a wide range of tools, equipment, and materials with precision, showing increasing fluency in making.
• Evaluate their own work and that of others with honesty and critical reflection, referencing functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability.
• Understand how key individuals in design and technology have shaped the world, and apply these insights to their own creative process.
• Demonstrate a secure understanding of nutrition, healthy eating, and the skills to cook a variety of savoury dishes safely and hygienically.
• Make informed links between DT and subjects such as science (e.g. circuits, forces, materials), maths (e.g. measurement, scale, geometry), and English (e.g. communicating ideas clearly).
  Ultimately, they will leave primary school with the confidence, capability, and curiosity to continue their learning in design and technology, equipped with the skills to innovate, evaluate, and improve the world around them.