At Sutton Green, we believe that Design & Technology provides children with exciting opportunities to create, design, explore and problem-solve. We are committed to providing a rich and varied curriculum that encourages children to develop their creativity, practical skills and confidence as designers and makers.
Our Design & Technology curriculum is progressive and carefully sequenced from Reception to Year 6, building on children’s knowledge, skills and experiences as they move through the school. Children have opportunities to explore a wide range of materials, tools and techniques, developing their understanding of how things work and how ideas can be transformed into real, purposeful products.
Through engaging and practical projects, children are encouraged to think creatively, solve problems, take risks and learn from mistakes.
Intent Statement
At Sutton Green Primary School, our intent is to inspire and empower children to become creative designers, innovative thinkers and confident problem-solvers. Through an engaging, rich and varied Design & Technology curriculum, we provide children with meaningful opportunities to design, make, evaluate and improve products that have a real purpose.
Our curriculum is progressive and carefully sequenced from Reception to Year 6, ensuring that children build upon their knowledge, skills and understanding as they move through the school. Children are introduced to a broad range of materials, tools, techniques and processes, developing increasing independence and confidence in their practical abilities.
We encourage children to think creatively, ask questions, explore possibilities and learn from mistakes. Through hands-on experiences, children develop their ability to solve problems, make decisions, adapt their ideas and persevere when things do not go as planned.
Design & Technology at Sutton Green also provides opportunities for children to make connections across the curriculum, including science, mathematics, computing, art and the wider world. We want our children to understand how design and technology shape the world around them and to recognise that they can use their own ideas and skills to make a positive difference.
Above all, we want every child to leave Sutton Green with a love of creating and making, a strong sense of curiosity and the confidence to say, “I have an idea – I can make it happen.”
Implementation Statement
At Sutton Green Primary School, Design & Technology is taught through a carefully planned, progressive curriculum from Reception to Year 6. Our curriculum is designed to ensure that children revisit and build upon key knowledge and skills, developing greater independence, creativity and technical expertise as they progress through the school.
Children experience the full design–make–evaluate process. They are given opportunities to investigate existing products, explore materials and techniques, develop and communicate their own ideas, create purposeful products and evaluate their work against a set of criteria. Children are encouraged to make improvements and learn from both successes and mistakes.
Our curriculum provides children with a rich and varied range of practical experiences, including work with structures, mechanisms, electrical systems, textiles, food and materials. Teachers carefully select projects that are engaging and purposeful, while ensuring that children develop the required knowledge and skills over time.
Key vocabulary and subject-specific knowledge are explicitly taught and revisited throughout each unit. Children are encouraged to talk about their designs, explain their choices and use appropriate technical language. Skills are modelled clearly by teachers before children apply them independently.
Design & Technology is taught through hands-on, practical experiences, allowing children to develop their fine motor skills, problem-solving abilities, creativity and resilience. Where appropriate, meaningful links are made with other curriculum subjects, helping children understand how Design & Technology is used in the real world.
Teachers use retrieval opportunities and assessment to identify what children already know and to inform future teaching. Children’s work is recorded and celebrated through design portfolios, finished products and floor books, allowing progression in knowledge and skills to be monitored across the school.
Through this approach, every child has the opportunity to design, create, evaluate and improve, developing the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to become successful designers and makers.
At Sutton Green Primary School, the impact of our Design & Technology curriculum is evident in children who are creative, curious, resilient and confident designers and makers.
Children develop a progressive range of knowledge and practical skills, building on prior learning as they move through the school. They confidently use the design–make–evaluate process to develop ideas, select appropriate materials and tools, create purposeful products and evaluate and improve their work.
Through practical experiences, children develop their problem-solving, creativity, independence and resilience. They can explain their ideas and choices using appropriate subject-specific vocabulary and understand how Design & Technology connects to the world around them.
By the end of Year 6, children have developed a broad range of technical and practical skills and the confidence to have a go, solve problems, learn from mistakes and bring their ideas to life.
Sutton Green Primary School, Armthorpe Drive, Little Sutton, Cheshire CH66 4NW
