Design & Food Technology

What our pupils say...

"In DFT we have to work as a team and you definitely need patience!"

"Designing first is really important. We did sketches to measure perimeters and made prototypes so we knew our final products would be strong and sturdy."

"We have to think about the materials that we use. When we made our boats, we had to decide which materials would be best to protect it from the water. We tested them in the frog pond outside."

"We have to work like rhinos! Keep trying. Our teacher always gives us lots of encouragement because sometimes our structures go wrong. She will say things like 'I know you're struggling but look back in your book, you have done this before and look how well you did, I know you can do it again."

"I absolutely loved making a wrap! It was really yummy but also so healthy. I loved it so much, I saved some to take home. I was actually really worried because I had never used a knife before - but it was ok, I didn't cut myself!"

Introduction
At Shavington Primary School the Design and Food Technology curriculum is taught discreetly and aims to develop technical knowledge and skills. Units aim to link to other areas of the curriculum; such as English, Science, History and Geography. This allows children to engage with their learning; for learning to be real and exciting, and also to allow children to develop a broader and deeper knowledge of their unit. Planning links to the D&T National Curriculum and aims to give children multiple opportunities to develop and refine their skills across their primary school career. It aims to develop resourcefulness and creativity and well as allowing children to be innovative. The Design and Food Technology curriculum aims to provide children with a skills rich curriculum which is underpinned by vocabulary and technical knowledge.

One unit is taught at least once a term and during this time will be taught for the equivalent of an hour a week. Planning is developed to link to learning in topic and is planned and delivered by class teachers and/or teaching assistants.

Intent

At Shavington Primary School, we aim to provide children with a broad and enriching Design and Food Technology curriculum that develops their skills whilst also encouraging children to explore their own ideas and inventions. Our vision is for children to be immersed in and enthusiastic about their Design and Food Technology projects by making learning real; inspiring them through high quality teaching and delivery of the curriculum. Whilst at Shavington, children will create final projects that have been developed through a research phase where children explore previous designs that are currently on the market. They will show resilience, determination and perseverance as they demonstrate their ability to apply new skills and experiment with newly learnt techniques; as well as refine previously leant skills. Children will be given opportunities to display their thoughts, ideas and processes through research, designing, making and evaluating their work. Children will be encouraged to work both individually and as part of a team during their projects. Children will learn about food groups and how to design and make healthy choices in their Food Technology. They will learn about food safety and hygiene as well as how to make their dishes varied and appealing.  Whilst Design and Food Technology is taught as a discreet subject, we are committed to helping children develop skills that are transferable and relevant across the wider curriculum.

Implementation

At Shavington Primary School, we follow the National Curriculum programme of study for Design and Food Technology; we aim to make learning real and relevant by planning units that are related to and can be integrated into learning across different subject areas (where possible) such as English, History, Geography and Science. All units begin with a design brief where children are given a statement requiring them to create something specific. This allows each unit to have a user and a purpose for the project; allowing children to apply their skills to real life scenarios and giving meaning to their work.

The main areas for teaching taken from the National Curriculum are textiles, structures, mechanisms and cooking and nutrition and these are taught multiple times throughout a child’s school career to ensure that all children have chance to keep building upon these skills and embedding them. We research and explore past and present design technology as well as looking at successful structures, mechanisms and textiles and discussing new and related vocabulary. We learn about the principles of nutrition as well as where foods come from and can be sourced. We then use this to inspire our own inventions and help us to develop new technical skills. We foster an environment that allows for risks to be taken, independence and resourcefulness to be developed, and all work is celebrated and evaluated.