Designing, making and evaluating with purpose
At North Mead, Design Technology teaches children to identify needs, generate ideas, make purposeful products, test them and improve them. Good design combines purpose, function, creativity and technical knowledge.
Thinking like a designer
Children learn through a repeated process: investigate → design → make → test → evaluate → improve.
What children learn
| Phase | What children learn |
| EYFS | Build, join, select materials, solve practical problems, explore how things work and talk about what they have made. |
| KS1 | Structures, textiles, wheels and axles, sliders and levers, simple food preparation, user and purpose, testing and improvement. |
| Lower KS2 | Textiles with seams and pattern pieces, frame and shell structures, levers and linkages, electrical systems, food seasonality and stronger design communication. |
| Upper KS2 | More complex circuits, user-centred design, technical textiles, sustainable food, programmable/electrical systems, gears, pulleys, cams, accurate construction and rigorous testing. |
Technical knowledge
Children progressively learn how structures are strengthened, mechanisms create movement, electrical components work together, textiles are shaped and joined, materials behave, and food can be prepared safely.
Design communication
Pupils progress from simple drawings and oral explanations to annotated sketches, pattern pieces, prototypes, cross-sectional or exploded diagrams and, where appropriate, digital or CAD communication.
Inclusion and challenge
Visual modelling, adapted tools, pre-prepared resources and additional support ensure participation. Greater depth comes through more demanding design criteria, technical precision, justified choices and increasingly independent evaluation.
NM Design Technology Curriculum Overview and Progression
Related North Mead pages
- Our Curriculum
- Sustainability