Design and Technology at St Joseph the Worker
Our Design and Technology curriculum equips children with the creativity, practical skills and problem‑solving abilities they need to understand and shape the world around them. Through a carefully sequenced and progressive programme, pupils learn to design, make and evaluate products with real purpose. Our teaching follows the National Curriculum and is enriched by the Kapow Primary scheme, ensuring high‑quality, engaging and inclusive DT lessons that inspire innovation, resilience and thoughtful craftsmanship.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, DT is taught through the area of Expressive Arts and Design and Understanding the World. Although not taught as a standalone subject, children experience early design and making skills through continuous provision and purposeful play.
Exploring Materials: Children investigate a wide range of materials such as paper, fabric, wood, card and construction kits.
Developing Fine Motor Skills: Cutting, joining, folding, building and shaping materials through hands‑on activities.
Early Design Thinking: Talking about their ideas, planning what they want to make and selecting appropriate tools and resources.
Making and Creating: Building models, constructing simple structures and experimenting with ways to strengthen or decorate their creations.
Evaluating: Beginning to talk about what worked well and what they might change next time.
Food Preparation: Simple cooking activities that introduce hygiene, safety and basic food‑handling skills.
Dignity of the Human Person: Children learn to value their own ideas and respect the creations of others.
Community and Participation: Pupils collaborate on shared projects, learning to listen, share and work together.
These early experiences lay the foundations for key DT concepts such as designing, making, evaluating, using tools safely and understanding how products are created.
In Key Stage 1, children begin to develop a more structured understanding of the design process. Using the Kapow Primary scheme, pupils explore:
Designing: Generating ideas based on simple design criteria and communicating them through drawings, templates and models.
Making: Selecting tools, materials and components to create purposeful products.
Evaluating: Discussing what they have made, comparing it to their design criteria and suggesting improvements.
Mechanisms: Exploring levers, sliders, wheels and axles.
Structures: Building simple structures and learning how to make them stronger and more stable.
Textiles: Joining fabrics using simple techniques such as gluing, stapling or simple stitching.
Cooking and Nutrition: Preparing simple dishes, learning about healthy eating and understanding where food comes from.
Solidarity: Children learn to support one another when working on shared projects.
The Common Good: Pupils explore how products can help people and improve everyday life.
Rights and Responsibilities: Children begin to understand how to use tools safely and responsibly.
In Key Stage 2, pupils deepen their understanding of the full design cycle and apply their skills with increasing independence. Through the Kapow Primary scheme, they explore:
Designing with Purpose: Researching existing products, developing design criteria and planning detailed designs.
Making with Precision: Using a wider range of tools, materials and components, including mechanical systems, electrical systems and more complex textiles.
Evaluating and Improving: Critically evaluating their own work and the work of others, considering function, aesthetics and user needs.
Mechanical Systems: Exploring gears, pulleys, cams and linkages.
Electrical Systems: Creating products using circuits, switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors.
Structures: Designing and constructing stable, strong and innovative structures.
Food Technology: Preparing dishes using a range of techniques, understanding seasonality and learning where ingredients come from.
Rights and Responsibilities: Pupils learn to design ethically, considering safety, sustainability and the needs of others.
Option for the Poor and Vulnerable: Children explore how design can solve problems and support communities.
Stewardship: Pupils consider the environmental impact of materials and make sustainable choices.
Global Solidarity: Through product research, pupils recognise the global nature of design, production and innovation.
Knowledge‑Rich and Skills‑Based: Our curriculum ensures children develop both practical skills and design thinking. Pupils learn to think like designers—researching, planning, creating, evaluating and refining their ideas.
Cross‑Curricular Links: Design and Technology is often linked with maths, science, art, computing, geography and PSHE to deepen understanding and enrich learning.
Global Citizenship and Catholic Social Teaching: DT lessons promote responsibility, creativity and ethical decision‑making, helping pupils understand how design can improve lives and contribute to the common good.
Engaging and Inclusive: Lessons are enriched with high‑quality resources from Kapow Primary, hands‑on tools, real‑world contexts and opportunities for all pupils to succeed.
Through Design and Technology at St Joseph the Worker, we nurture children who are imaginative, resourceful and confident problem‑solvers. DT is not just about making things—it is about understanding how the world works, designing solutions and using God‑given creativity to make a positive difference. Whether constructing models, sewing textiles, preparing food or designing mechanical systems, our pupils grow as thoughtful, capable and compassionate designers ready to shape the world around them.