At Distington Community School, Design and Technology is about creating opportunities for all of the children to be creative whilst developing high quality outcomes, using skills taught to them in school. It provides the children with lifelong skills that will offer use to them in the wider community. 

In school, we follow the Learning Challenge Curriculum alongside the planning tool, KAPOW. Our curriculum is carefully designed to ensure coverage and progression. It provides pupils with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable skills. The children's own community, its heritage and traditions are frequently used as a starting point for engaging interest. A primary focus of our curriculum is to raise aspirations, create a sense of personal pride in achievement, and provide a purpose and relevance for learning. We provide a creative cross curriculum approach that has clear intent, a carefully designed and monitored implementation and a positive impact that allows children to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in each subject. Design and Technology is intertwined with other subjects such as art, science and literacy, which is demonstrated through science week and our work with 'The Laal Collective'.

Through KAPOW knowledge and skills are taught through the following strands:

• Cooking and Nutrition

• Textiles

• Structures

• Mechanical Systems

• Electrical Systems

• Digital World 

Each of these strands are split into lessons which show the sequencing of skills to support the children in their learning and which offer them the opportunity to embed these skills further in the making of a final product. Using KAPOW means that the learning from one year group to another flows and that coverage of the curriculum for Key Stage 1 and 2 is complete.

In Early Years the children also follow KAPOW's scheme of learning, looking at one unit per half term.

These lessons offer repetition throughout and allow the children to build up their skills, working to a final task or product at the end of each unit. The children are given opportunities to practise their skills within the areas of continuous provisions and in the outdoor area, adding imagination and creativity to their play. Each of the Early years strands link to the Development Matters document, which we use as guidance here at Distington. 

The Wildlife Trust

Rosie from The Wildlife Trust recently worked with our Year 4 children, to create bird boxes. The children were sent designs and used their mathematical skills to measure the materials needed. They safely worked with peers and adults to use saws and electric drills to cut and attach materials together, adding hinges to create a lift up roof to each bird box. 

Rope swings

Each child in Year 4 worked with The Wildlife Trust to create a rope swing in the school forest. The children created their own swing designs, really thinking about the materials they would need to implement their designs. They tested materials in class to ensure they would be strong enough to hold and after working together to join the materials, Rosie attached the final product to the tree branch outside. The children evaluated their end product, giving their opinions after testing the swing for themselves.