Art/Design Technology (DT)

Art & Design

At St. Edmund’s Academy, we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Art and Design provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thoughts and ideas.

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

Each year group plans art lessons, which aim to ensure that children are able to develop key skills using specific media. The importance of Art is evident through our yearly 'Art Week', in which we plan and focus on particular skills or aspect of Art, throughout the school.

Through following the National Curriculum for art and design we aim to ensure that all pupils:

1.  Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
2.  Become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
3.  Evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
4.  Know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Design Technology

Design and Technology prepares children to deal with tomorrow's rapidly changing world. It encourages children to become independent, creative problem solvers and thinkers as individuals and part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond to them by developing a range of ideas and by making products and systems. Through the study of Design and Technology, they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industry. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate past and present technology, it's uses and impacts. 

It is the intent of St. Edmund’s Academy for Design Technology to be taught in all year groups through one cross-curriculum topic per term, which includes one topic relating to food. The importance of Design and Technology is evident through our yearly STEM project in the Spring Term (Inventions and Inventors), where we plan and focus on particular skills or aspect of Design Technology, throughout the school.

Through following the key objectives of intent within the Design Technology Curriculum, based on the National Curriculum 2014 guidance, we aim to ensure that:

• Products are to be made for a purpose.
• Individuality should be ensured in children’s design and construction of products.
• Delivery of the two strands: Designing and Making, Cooking and Nutrition.
• More emphasis to be given on creating ‘innovative’ products.
• Teaching the importance of making on-going changes and improvements during making stages.
• Looking into seasonality of ingredients and how they are grown, caught or reared.
• The introduction of computing and coding of products.
• Researching key events and individual designers in the History of Technology.