Design & Technology at Ridgewood
Our Design Technology curriculum develops practical knowledge, creativity, problem-solving and increasing independence through purposeful designing and making.
Discrete Design Technology is taught in Year 7, providing learners with foundations in textiles, materials, construction, mechanisms, structures and food preparation. From Year 8 onwards, the practical skills and ways of thinking established through DT continue to be developed and applied through Food Technology, the wider curriculum, Preparation for Adulthood and Friday enrichment.
This approach reflects the needs and future priorities of our learners. From Year 8 onwards, greater curriculum time is given to Food Technology and the practical skills needed for everyday adult life. However, the core principles of Design Technology remain important throughout: designing, making, selecting appropriate materials, using tools and equipment safely, solving problems, adapting ideas and evaluating outcomes.
At Ridgewood, Design Technology gives learners opportunities to explore, design, make, test and improve purposeful products while developing practical skills that have relevance beyond the classroom.
Through working with a range of materials, tools, equipment, structures and mechanisms, learners develop an understanding that products are designed and made for a purpose and that materials, tools and processes are selected according to what a product needs to do.
DT provides valuable opportunities to develop fine and gross motor skills, coordination, communication, choice-making, creativity, perseverance, problem-solving and independence.
For our Pre-formal and Semi-formal learners, this may begin with exploration, cause and effect, sensory responses, supported choice-making and participation in shared making activities. As learners develop, they are supported to plan, select, create, adapt and evaluate with increasing independence.
Ultimately, our Design Technology curriculum aims to develop the practical confidence, creativity, resourcefulness and problem-solving skills learners need to make, adapt, repair, create and participate as independently as possible in adult life.
