At Godfrey Ermen Memorial School, our Design and Technology curriculum is delivered through a range of carefully planned projects each year. Using the Kapow! scheme of work, pupils develop a broad and progressive set of skills and techniques. This structured progression ensures that children continually build on prior learning and deepen their understanding of problem‑solving, designing, and constructing a variety of products.
Across the year, pupils complete three Design and Technology projects. These are taught either through weekly lessons or through focused two‑ or three‑day blocks, giving children the opportunity to become fully immersed in the design–make–evaluate cycle.
Throughout each project, pupils explore a range of real-life products in depth. This hands-on investigation helps them understand how products look, function and meet the needs of their intended users. Pupils evaluate these examples against purpose and target market, supporting the development of critical thinking. The design–make–evaluate sequence provides children with dedicated time to reflect on their own ideas and outcomes, identifying how their products could be improved or adapted. Teachers model and support increasingly sophisticated evaluative skills to ensure high-quality outcomes across the school.
Every project begins with a design brief that sets the product in a meaningful context. Where appropriate, these briefs link to other areas of learning or are tailored to capture pupils’ interests and imagination, fostering creativity and a willingness to solve problems. Safety expectations, including tool use and food hygiene where relevant, are explicitly taught and modelled at the start and throughout each project.