Design and Technology at Bromet

Intent

At Bromet Primary School, our Design and Technology curriculum aims to equip all pupils with the creative, technical, and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. We want our pupils to become problem-solvers, innovators, and reflective thinkers.

We intend for our DT curriculum to:

• Inspire curiosity and creativity through real-life contexts, making learning relevant and meaningful.

• Develop a deep understanding of the design process through iterative designing, making, and evaluating.

• Foster an understanding of nutrition and cooking skills essential for health and well-being.

• Build technical knowledge progressively, including mechanisms, structures, textiles, electronics, and food preparation.

• Enable pupils to consider the needs of the intended user and context for purposeful and relevant design.

By embedding the three key principles of intended user, purpose, and context, we ensure that our pupils create meaningful and functional products, giving them a strong foundation for future learning in design, technology, and engineering.

Implementation

Design and Technology is taught across all year groups through discrete DT units each term, integrating national curriculum strands and practical projects. Each project is planned to follow a clear design-make-evaluate cycle, with links made to other curriculum areas such as English, science, history, and maths where appropriate.

Key features of our implementation:

• Progressive Skills Coverage: Pupils build on prior knowledge as they progress through school—from basic cutting and joining techniques in KS1 to computer-aided design, electronic systems, and sophisticated stitching in KS2.

• Thematic and Real-World Projects: Projects are grounded in real-life problems, often themed around storytelling, environmental needs, personal health, or the local community (e.g., designing smoothie recipes, shelters for animals, animated story props, or embroidered wearable items).

• Contextual Relevance: Children always consider the user and purpose. Projects are age-appropriate and link to children’s experiences, such as making puppets for storytelling, designing healthy lunches, or creating products for school use or community sharing.

• Cooking and Nutrition: Practical food sessions are mapped out across all key stages, starting with fruit workshops and sandwich-making in KS1, to savoury dishes and cultural recipes in KS2. Children learn where food comes from and apply healthy eating principles in engaging, hands-on experiences.

• Use of Industry Partnerships and Workshops: Experiences such as the Wagamama Food Workshop provide additional depth to cooking and nutrition, bringing external expertise and real-world context into the classroom.

• Cross-Curricular Links: Opportunities for maths (budgeting, measuring), computing (CAD, coding), geography (seasonality), and PSHE (healthy choices, teamwork) are woven into DT projects to enrich understanding.

Impact

Our DT curriculum empowers children to become confident designers and makers who can reflect critically on their own and others’ work. The impact of our approach is evident in:

• High Engagement and Enjoyment: Pupils are enthusiastic about DT lessons, valuing the opportunity to make meaningful products with purpose and creativity.

• Skills Progression: Work demonstrates a clear progression in technical knowledge and application—from using sliders and levers in KS1 to constructing mechanical systems and textiles in KS2.

• Problem Solving and Resilience: Pupils develop resilience as they test, modify, and improve their designs, learning from mistakes and refining ideas collaboratively.

• Cross-Curricular Application: Pupils apply skills learned in DT to other curriculum areas, such as calculating costs during the Pie Project, or creating books to support early readers in younger year groups.

• Real-Life Understanding: Children show awareness of how DT connects to real-world contexts, such as pet care, healthy lifestyles, environmental issues, and cultural celebrations.

• Preparation for Life: Pupils leave Bromet with the ability to plan, create, and evaluate products thoughtfully and practically, and are well-prepared for the next phase of their education.

We monitor the impact of our curriculum through pupil voice, teacher assessment of final products and learning processes, and review of sketchbooks, prototypes, and finished projects.