Design and Technology

The DT curriculum at All Saints’ Catholic High School will provide all pupils with an ambitious and academic learning experience that builds knowledge and develops skills to nurture their God-given talents to ensure that all “SHINE”. The curriculum will be planned coherently and will be sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills allowing all pupils to progress to aspirational post-16 destinations and beyond. The curriculum will provide pupils with a solid grounding in the Catholic ethos of the school (see Mission Statement above), British Values, PSHE, wellbeing and our core values of Luceat Lux Vestra. The curriculum will be enhanced by an extra-curricular programme which supports all pupils in growing into well-rounded individuals with respect for the common good, as mandated by our Catholic faith. Our intention to provide as many opportunities and experiences for our pupils will be reflected in our enrichment curriculum.

The curriculum will be designed around the following five areas:

• Knowledge (and skills) - explicit teaching of knowledge and skills.
• Vocabulary - explicit teaching of tier two and three vocabulary.
• Sequenced five year continuum - Pupils will experience a sequential and gradually more challenging academic curriculum through their five years at All Saints’.
• Memory, recall and cognition - pupils will be exposed to metacognition strategies and how to improve long-term memory.
• Reliable assessment - this will be formative and summative over the five-year continuum.

The Design Technology curriculum aims to provide all students with a broad and balanced curriculum which prepares them for life beyond school education. We encourage students to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils will get the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. Their work will be based on a range of domestic and local contexts, home, health, leisure, culture and industrial contexts. Students will select from and use specialist tools, techniques, processes, equipment and machinery precisely. Students will select from and use a wider, more complex range of materials and components and taking into account their properties. Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. It can be found in many of the objects students use each day and is a part of students' immediate experiences. Design and Technology encourages students to learn to think and intervene creatively to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team. The Design and Technology curriculum combines skills, knowledge, concepts and values to enable students to tackle real problems. It can improve analysis, problem-solving, practical capability and evaluation skills. Our aim is to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. The students are encouraged to become innovators and risk-takers. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.