Mrs A Moore

Design & Technology Leader

At Birchwood Junior School we aim to implement an exciting design and technology curriculum  through a variety of teaching methods; practical lessons, developing skills in Art and Design, and through a cross curricular approach within other subject lessons. Design and Technology requires children to draw on skills within Mathematics, Art, Science and Computing. Children will deepen their understanding and independence within all of these subject areas during their Design and Technology lessons. 

Children are given regular opportunities to develop their understanding of the technological world. We will evaluate past and present design and technology and the ways that these have influenced modern society. This will allow our children to have a more critical approach to their own designs and creations. 

Throughout their time at Birchwood Junior School, children will be encouraged to take risks when designing and making their products. Lessons will be hands on and engaging, with the children having access to lots of resources and materials. They will be encouraged to think critically in order to evaluate their past prototypes and when testing their current designs. This will allow the children to build upon their artistic skills and become more resourceful.

We want the children at Birchwood Junior School to develop their imagination, their critical thinking and their understanding of the world around them through their love of Design and Technology. We aim for our children to question and think innovatively about the world around them in order to design and develop their own products with a purpose in mind. 

Our guiding principles have been developed based on age and developmentally appropriate knowledge, directly in line with government guidelines. We have also worked in consultation with parents and pupils to develop bespoke themes, taught sensitively and inclusively, with respect to the backgrounds and beliefs of pupils and parents.

We are clear that parents and carers are the prime educators for children on many of these matters. Our school complements and reinforces this role and parents in our community have told us “your design and technology curriculum impressed me – it really sets the children up for secondary school and beyond allowing them to have expertise in a fast paced world, that your Forest skies pupils will be able to keep up with!”