D&T
"Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future." - Robert L. Peters, designer and author
Curriculum Intent
Here at St Joseph the Worker, we believe that Design and Technology is an inspiring and rigorous subject that will equip children with practical skills and provide them with a real-life context for learning. Children are encouraged to develop their thinking skills and to use their creativity to answer various design and technology questions; they are presented with many opportunities to explore the world that God created and to find out how things work.
God was a wonderful promoter of technology – here are some instances that are seen in the Bible:
- Cain built a city (Gen 4:17)
- Noah was directed by God to build an ark. Using God's instructions, Noah designed and built this complex structure (Gen. 6)
- Abraham and Isaac dug wells (an early civil engineering project!) in Genesis 21 and Genisis 26
- Isaiah prophesies that the people who go up to the mountain of the Lord will "beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" (Isa. 2:4)
Children will learn to understand how Design and Technology has impacted God’s world over the years and how many designs in existence have been influenced by people’s faith and love of God.
Through this area of the curriculum, it is our hope that children will be inspired by engineers, designers, chefs and architects to help them to create a range of products including structures, textiles, electrical systems and food. We want children to be passionate about what they are creating and to understand why they are creating it; using real-life job roles and situations will enable our children to be successful in an ever-changing technological world.
Through our Design and Technology teaching, our children learn how to:
- develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
- build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
- critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others
- understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.