Design & Technology

At The Rushmere Park Academy we believe that design and technology is a subject that encourages and inspires children to become innovators in applying their knowledge and understanding when developing ideas, planning, and making products and then evaluating them.

Our curriculum aims to inspire students to think about the important and integral role which design and the creation of designed products play in our society. The curriculum is split into three different areas: ‘cook’, ‘sew’ and ‘build’. These ‘aspects’ acknowledge enduring and contemporary concerns of modern design. The curriculum overview specifies the concepts and skills which the students are expected to learn over the course of a unit.

In ‘cook’ students learn to cook from recipes which gradually build basic culinary skills, whilst studying these practical skills they learn about concepts relating to food such as nutrition, seasonality, food production, transportation and food from different cultures.

In ‘sew’ students practise using fabric and thread to learn basic sewing techniques to create objects which demonstrate embroidery, appliqué, weaving and plaiting. Concepts such as the properties and creation of different fabrics, fast fashion, industrialisation, waste, recycling and pollution are interwoven into these activities.

In ‘build’ students learn about the creation of structures and mechanical and electrical devices to create products such as cars, moving cards, toys and books. Once again, the practical process of designing and creating a product is interleaved with learning about concepts which have a bearing on what the students make. These concepts, for example force, motion and the properties of materials are often connected with those encountered in the science curriculum.

The sequence of lessons in the ‘sew’ and ‘build’ areas of study follow a structure to enable the students to become familiar with, understand and practise the process of design: research and investigate, design, make, use and evaluate. The planning for each unit of work specifies the product the children will make, the purpose and user of the product. This specification acknowledges the importance of purpose and user within in the design process. Throughout the course of the lessons the students explore existing products and their uses, generate ideas and designs by creating drawings and prototypes against criteria which they devise having considered purpose, function and appeal. Evaluation against these criteria concludes the process.