Design and Technology
At Balksbury Federation, our Design & Technology curriculum helps children become resourceful, creative and confident problem‑solvers. Through practical, engaging projects, pupils learn how design has shaped the world and how they can contribute to future innovations.
Children follow the full design cycle—design, make and evaluate—while developing strong technical knowledge. They respond to real‑world design briefs, consider the needs of others and create purposeful, meaningful products.
Skills are built progressively as children move through the school, becoming more challenging and complex over time. Our aim is to inspire pupils to think critically, work creatively and develop the confidence to become imaginative designers of the future.
Design and Technology at Balksbury Federation Infants:
Across KS1, children take part in creative and practical activities that teach them the skills and knowledge needed to design and make products. They build key skills across the core areas of Structures, Mechanisms, Textiles, and Cooking & Nutrition, developing confidence as they explore how products are created and how they work.
Children learn to design purposeful products, communicate their ideas, choose appropriate tools and materials, and evaluate both existing products and their own creations. These foundations prepare them for more complex designing and making as they move through the school.
Design and Technology at Balksbury Federation Juniors:
Children learn to analyse existing products, evaluate their own work against design criteria and use feedback to refine their ideas. They also deepen their technical knowledge by strengthening complex structures, using mechanical and electrical systems such as gears, cams, pulleys, and circuits, and applying computing skills to program, monitor and control their products, enabling them to respond confidently to real‑world design challenges.
Progression of Knowledge and Skills
If you would like a copy of our Progression of Knowledge and Skills for Design and Technology, then please do not hesitate to contact one of our admin offices.