Vision

Engineers, fashion designers, carpenters, architects… all have something in common, and that is Design Technology! DT is the perfect way to develop children’s problem-solving, resilience, teamwork, and critical thinking, which are all lifelong and transferable skills. It helps children understand how professionals, such as engineers, have impacted the world.

Design and Technology at The Hyde

At The Hyde School, we give children opportunities to see how things work and how they are made. Through our Urban Adventure curriculum, children see DT in action, for example, rollercoasters, bridges, and buildings, and then use this as a basis for purposeful project work. We have links with RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and The Institute of Imagination, who provide workshops to enhance our children’s vocabulary, knowledge, and skills in DT.

How we deliver the curriculum

We follow the Early Years Framework and National Curriculum for Design and Technology. Early Years children follow a curriculum based on their needs and interests, which ensures they are developmentally ready for DT teaching in the National Curriculum. In addition to having free access to experiment, create, and express themselves, children develop fine and gross motor skills, core stability, upper body strength, as well as their speaking, listening, and attention skills. From the start, children are given time to experiment with tools and materials to build and solve small and large scale problems. They learn to collaborate while solving problems and use critical thinking to evaluate what worked and how to improve their designs.

As children progress through the school, DT becomes increasingly project based. For each element of DT technical knowledge, for example, structures, mechanisms (and control systems in KS2), textiles, and food and nutrition, children spend time improving their skills in order to design, create, and evaluate a final purposeful product. Children’s work is celebrated through exhibitions, curriculum evenings, and displays around the school. From Year 1 to Year 6, children will learn three different types of technical knowledge each year and have the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge. Teachers use The Hyde School’s progression documents to ensure the work builds on children’s prior learning. Where there are natural links, such as engineers, designers, chefs, or textile workers, children learn about relevant and inspiring individuals who are working or producing products similar to those they are designing and making.