At St Margaret’s at Troy Town, our Design and Technology curriculum enables every child to ‘let their light shine’ as a thoughtful designer and problem solver. The curriculum is carefully sequenced so that pupils develop secure knowledge of materials, mechanisms, structures, electrical systems and nutrition alongside the disciplinary skills of designing, making and evaluating. Over time, pupils build the technical understanding and independence needed to create purposeful products for real users.
Our DT curriculum is designed so pupils know more and remember more about how products are designed and made. We have identified the key substantive knowledge pupils need, including:
• properties and uses of materials • how mechanisms create movement • how structures achieve strength and stability • how electrical systems function • principles of healthy eating and food preparation
Alongside this, pupils develop disciplinary knowledge by learning to follow the iterative design process: research, design, make, test, evaluate and refine. At SMATT, the Grammarsaurus scheme is used as a high-quality resource to support delivery. Leaders have carefully mapped and adapted units to ensure progression is coherent and responsive to the needs of our pupils.
Through hands-on experiences, they develop practical skills, learn to take risks, and understand the iterative nature of design, becoming increasingly independent in their thinking. D&T equips children with the technical knowledge and critical thinking needed to engage with the wider world, understanding how design influences and improves lives.
The subject also nurtures essential life skills such as collaboration, communication, and perseverance. By connecting learning to real-life contexts and emerging technologies, children grow not only in skill but also in confidence and self-belief, preparing them to make a positive contribution to society and the ever-evolving world around them.
The Design Process at SMATT
Across the school, pupils are taught to think and work like designers. Each unit follows a clear iterative process:
• researching and exploring existing products • generating and communicating design ideas • making prototypes using appropriate tools • testing against design criteria • evaluating effectiveness • refining and improving products
As pupils move through the school, they take increasing ownership of this process and make more independent design decisions.
Implementation
Supporting design and technology skills helps children engage more effectively with DT. These skills enhance their ability to solve problems, work collaboratively, and apply learning in meaningful and creative contexts. The Grammarsaurus DT lessons focus on the following supporting design and technology skills:
Solving problems creatively
Collaborating effectively
Communicating clearly
Innovating and creating
Considering cultures and ethics
Applying mathematics practically
The key skills in our DT curriculum are: ‘Researching’, ‘Designing’, ‘Making’, ‘Evaluating’, and ‘Technical Knowledge’. Through the development of these skills, children will gain hands-on experience with the design process and begin to work with precision, creativity, and purpose.
At our school, Design and Technology is taught weekly on a rolling programme with Art, giving children regular opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge, and creativity through purposeful, practical experiences. Using Grammarsaurus as a starting point, our planning ensures clear progression from Reception to Year 6, aligned with the National Curriculum and tailored to meet the needs of all learners and allowing them to flourish.
Each of these areas follows the design process (design, make and evaluate). The nature of the curriculum at SMATT allows these areas to be revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to build on their knowledge and apply that knowledge as skills. In addition, a range of skills are taught and technical knowledge ensuring that children are aware of health and safety issues related to the tasks undertaken.
Teachers explicitly model technical skills, including safe tool use, joining techniques and food preparation. Key vocabulary is taught and revisited regularly. Prior learning is deliberately retrieved so that pupils strengthen their long-term retention of technical knowledge. Opportunities for prototyping and refinement are built into each unit so pupils experience the full design cycle.
Technical understanding builds cumulatively across the school. Pupils move from simple mechanisms, basic food preparation and early structures in Key Stage 1 to more complex mechanical systems, strengthened structures, electrical components and more sophisticated cooking techniques in Key Stage 2.
Impact
Across the school, as Designers, children flourish by taking creative risks, solving problems, and reflecting on their outcomes. They develop resilience, teamwork, and critical thinking skills— attributes that support their wider development and prepare them to engage confidently and thoughtfully with the wider world. By the end of Key Stage 2, our pupils are well-equipped with the practical skills, technical knowledge, and design thinking needed to succeed in secondary school and beyond.
Impact is measured by the child’s progress against their expected outcomes and their ability to meet the key aims of the National Curriculum for DT. After each lesson, pupils are assessed against the lesson objective and if they have grasped the knowledge or skill(s) taught. At the beginning of a topic, pupils complete a start of topic review which is then revisited at the end of the topic as an assessment to see how much they have developed.
Curriculum Map / Long Term Plan
The National Curriculum says:
"Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation."
Children in EYFS develop their DT skills through the Expressive Arts and Design area of learning, which encourages creativity, imagination, and exploration. They experiment with different materials, tools, and techniques, developing fine motor skills and confidence in self-expression. Through activities such as painting, drawing, collage, and model-making, children explore colour, texture, and form while learning how to use materials safely, including handling scissors, glue, and paints with care. They have daily access to junk modelling materials, which allow them to build, construct, and problem-solve using recycled resources, fostering independence and creativity. Children also create props for role-play, enhancing their imaginative experiences and linking art to storytelling and dramatic play. They are encouraged to talk about their artwork, describe their choices, and reflect on their creative process, building communication skills and an awareness of their own artistic development. Children take part in cooking experiences that develop early food preparation skills and an understanding of ingredients. DT is integrated into other areas of learning, such as seasonal projects and storytelling, where children create artwork inspired by books and experiences.
In Key Stage 1, children build on these foundations by learning to plan, make, and evaluate their own designs. They begin to use practical tools and materials more purposefully—such as scissors, glue, and simple construction kits—while developing an understanding of basic mechanisms, structures, and food preparation. They are introduced to designing with a user in mind and begin to evaluate their work against design criteria.
In Key Stage 2, pupils deepen their technical understanding and broaden their practical skills, using a range of tools including saws, needles, glue guns, knives, and scales with increasing independence and accuracy. They engage in more complex design processes, incorporating research, testing, and evaluation. Children also develop knowledge of electrical systems, textiles, mechanical systems, and nutrition, applying their learning to real-life contexts and global challenges.
In Design and Technology (D&T), children build subject-specific skills and knowledge progressively from Key Stage 1 (KS1) to Key Stage 2 (KS2) as outlined in the 2014 National Curriculum. At KS1, children develop foundational skills in using a range of materials and tools, learning to design, make, and evaluate simple products. They begin to understand the basic principles of structures, mechanisms, and cooking, while gaining confidence in communicating ideas through drawings and simple models. As they transition to KS2, the complexity of tasks increases, with children gaining deeper knowledge in areas such as electrical systems, textiles, and more sophisticated cooking techniques. They develop a more critical understanding of the design process, incorporating research and evaluating their work with greater attention to the function and aesthetic qualities of their creations. Through this progression, children are encouraged to apply their skills in a more reflective and analytical manner, preparing them to solve real-world problems using their growing technical understanding and creativity.
Learning is carefully sequenced across year groups so that pupils build progressively on their knowledge, understanding, and skills from Reception through to Year 6. Clear connections are made between year groups to deepen learning and reinforce key concepts.
In Reception, children begin to explore tools, materials, and construction through structured play, laying the groundwork for designing, making, and evaluating. These early experiences with joining materials, choosing tools, and talking about their creations provide a vital foundation for Year 1, where pupils begin to follow simple design criteria and use basic tools with growing accuracy.
In Year 1 and 2, children develop a clearer understanding of the design process—design, make, evaluate—and begin to explore structures, mechanisms, and food technology. These experiences directly connect to Years 3 and 4, where children apply more complex techniques such as using scoring and sewing equipment. For example, simple levers and sliders in KS1 become linked to mechanical systems like pulleys and linkages in lower KS2. Similarly, basic joining and stitching techniques evolve into textile projects involving patterns and strengthening seams.
In Years 5 and 6, children draw upon the full range of prior learning, demonstrating increasing independence, creativity, and precision. They deepen their understanding of technical knowledge by incorporating electrical systems, refining their food preparation skills, and evaluating their work against broader criteria such as sustainability, user needs, and functionality. They also conduct more detailed research and testing to inform their designs, building on the basic investigation and reflection skills learned in earlier years.
Throughout all phases, key threads—such as health and safety, user-focused design, evaluating and improving, and applying prior knowledge—are continually revisited and built upon. This approach ensures that pupils develop as confident, capable, and thoughtful designers, able to apply their learning with purpose and imagination across a variety of contexts.
Please see below a few examples of work which have been adapted so all children can flourish and meet learning objectives within DT.
Children in Year 1 have been given the technical vocabulary to be able to label their own moon buggy.
Year 4 - evaluating a pneumatic, This has been adapted so children can still evaluate their products.
Year 3 - evaluating a pencil case. You can see the progression from Year 3 to year 4 in evaluating a product for children with Special Educational needs.
Enrichment Opportunities
As part of our enrichment opportunities, some topics begin with a 'Theme Day'. During this day, in addition to DT lessons, children may cook something based on the topic.
"It's important to learn how to be safe in the kitchen so we don't hurt ourselves. I can hold my knife properly now!" Year 1
During other Theme days such as Lunar New Year, children will try a variety of foods from around the world to increase their repertoire of foods.
For Shrove Tuesday, children eat pancakes and reflect on what this day means.
Year 2 have partnered with Lidl for their Lidl Foodies programme to grown their own produce and then make a smoothie. This enabled children to see the whole process of where some food comes from.
In the autumn term, children became "Foodie Detectives” and went on a spudtacular adventure, using all five senses to discover the smell, taste and texture of fresh fruit and veg.
In spring, they became Lidl Growers and dug into how fruit and veg are grown, plus there was a berry exciting challenge for the class to ‘grow their own’.
In the summer, they learnt first-hand how tomake some a-maize-ing tasty and nutritious recipes.
"Learning about where food comes from is important to help the world." - Goodness Year 2
We are very fortunate to have links with local businesses within our community and one opportunity our Year 5s get to take part in is visit a local restaurant to make burgers.
"Visiting Quills was fun because we got to make our own burgers. I saw inside the kitchen and it made me want to become a chef." - Year 5
Impact
Across the school, as Designers, children flourish by taking creative risks, solving problems, and reflecting on their outcomes. They develop resilience, teamwork, and critical thinking skills— attributes that support their wider development and prepare them to engage confidently and thoughtfully with the wider world. By the end of Key Stage 2, our pupils are well-equipped with the practical skills, technical knowledge, and design thinking needed to succeed in secondary school and beyond.
Impact is measured by the child’s progress against their expected outcomes and their ability to meet the key aims of the National Curriculum for DT. After each lesson, pupils are assessed against the lesson objective and if they have grasped the knowledge or skill(s) taught. At the beginning of a topic, pupils complete a start of topic review which is then revisited at the end of the topic as an assessment to see how much they have developed.
Pupil Voice
"I love building in DT. It helps me to think about where to put things and what will work best - logically and practically." Rayhaan Year 6
"I love cooking in DT - especially tasting all the food! I went home and made my own burgers with my Mum." Year 5
''I loved painting the Ancient Greek pots as we got to use the clay and learnt how to score properly.''- Emma Year 3
''I loved making the Volcanos as we got to see how they work and turned it into a science experiment.''- William year 3
Subject in Action
Year 3 made Greek clay pots.
Year 3 designed, made and evaluated pencil cases.
Monster puppets made by Year 4.
Year 1 making Gruffalo crumble! KS2 would progress to weighing out their own ingredients using scales.
