🛠️Design and Technology at Ryton-on-Dunsmore

At Ryton‑on‑Dunsmore CE Academy, we follow the Primary Knowledge Curriculum (PKC) for Design and Technology (DT). The PKC is a knowledge‑rich curriculum in which the content is clearly specified, carefully sequenced and taught to be remembered. It ensures that pupils build a secure foundation of disciplinary and substantive knowledge that they can apply creatively and confidently.

We intend Design and Technology to be a creative, practical and purposeful subject that enables children to problem‑solve, innovate and develop their own ideas both independently and collaboratively. We aim to provide meaningful opportunities for pupils to use their imagination to design and make products in a range of real‑life contexts, giving purpose and relevance to their learning.

Design is all around us - from chairs to hospital equipment, from clothing to websites, from bus advertisements to playground structures. Our curriculum encourages pupils to recognise the integral role that design and the creation of designed products play in society. Through this, we aim to inspire pupils to think critically about how products are made, who they are made for and how they can be improved.

Our DT curriculum is organised into three core strands: cook, sew and build. Each year group completes one unit from each strand annually. In recognition of the limited time and competing curriculum demands in primary schools, each unit is delivered in a focused one‑week block during assessment week. This structure ensures depth, continuity and immersion in the design process.

Every unit clearly specifies the concepts, knowledge and skills pupils are expected to learn. These build progressively over the six years of study, enabling pupils to revisit, refine and deepen their understanding over time. By the end of their primary journey, pupils will have developed a strong foundation in designing, making and evaluating, preparing them for further study and for understanding the designed world around them.