At West Lodge, we believe that children should be treated as designers and engineers and as such we aim to stimulate their individual and collective creativity and curiosity to design, make and evaluate products which solve a range of problems in real life contexts.

Our curriculum for Design and Technology draws on learning from a wide range of other subjects including Science, Maths, Computing and Art, and allows them to practically apply their knowledge and skills to design and create.

The staff at West Lodge ensure that children are exposed to quality first teaching and engaging learning experiences, where children are given the opportunity to evaluate notable designers and existing products to inspire them when developing their own ideas and designs. During the process, children are immersed in subject specific language, and develop the confidence to use this vocabulary to articulate their ideas clearly.

How we teach Design and Technology

At West Lodge, we use the Design and Technology Association’s ‘Projects on a Page’ scheme as the basis for our planning. Our use of this scheme supports the implementation of the National Curriculum for D&T.

Based on universal principles of effective teaching and learning in D&T, it is based around the following areas:

• Mechanisms and mechanical systems
• Structures
• Textiles
• Food
• Electrical systems