Curriculum Aims

Kapow Primary’s Design and technology scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to become curious, creative and innovative thinkers with a broad understanding of how products are designed and made, in other words, to think like designers and engineers. The intention is for pupils to develop the confidence to identify problems, generate ideas, plan and create products and evaluate their outcomes.

The scheme aims to raise pupils’ awareness of how design and technology shape the way they live, work and interact with the world. It encourages pupils to become resourceful, enterprising individuals who have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.

The scheme supports teachers in developing their subject knowledge and skills, enabling the delivery of engaging, well-informed lessons with confidence. The curriculum is designed to be both accessible and ambitious, ensuring all learners’ full participation and potential achievement.

Key areas

The National curriculum for Design and technology sets out the importance of creativity through different contexts in the Technical knowledge strand, referring to structures, mechanisms and electrical systems. Cooking and nutrition are given their own heading.

To support this, Kapow Primary’s D&T curriculum is organised into the following six key areas:

• Structures.
• Mechanisms/Mechanical systems.
• Textiles.
• Cooking and nutrition.
• Electrical systems.
• The digital world.

These areas are revisited across year groups to give pupils a broad and balanced experience of designing and making products using a range of materials, tools and technologies.

Spiral Curriculum

The Kapow Primary D&T scheme of work has been designed as a spiral curriculum based on the following key principles:

• Cyclical – pupils return to the key knowledge and skills again and again in different contexts during their time in primary school.
• Increasing depth – each time a skill is revisited, it is explored with greater complexity.
• Prior knowledge – pupils build on their existing understanding, allowing them to build upon previous foundations rather than starting again.

This approach reinforces knowledge and skills and supports long-term retention and progression. It allows pupils to make links between different topics, draw on their prior learning and apply it flexibly to new and increasingly complex situations.

As a result, pupils are equipped to think like designers: generating ideas, solving practical problems and creating purposeful, user-focused products that reflect both creativity and technical understanding.

Impact

Formative

Kapow Primary’s D&T lessons include ongoing assessment opportunities, such as questioning, retrieval practice and interactive activities.

These enable teachers to assess understanding in real time and adapt their teaching accordingly.

Summative

Each unit provides an Assessment quiz and Knowledge catcher, which allow teachers to measure pupils’ understanding at key points.

These tools help gauge how well pupils have retained key knowledge and skills over time.

Adaptive Teaching

Kapow Primary’s D&T scheme is designed to be fully adaptable for SEND pupils. Every lesson includes an adaptive teaching section, providing clear guidance on how activities can be modified to meet the needs of all learners.

Children learn in a variety of ways. As such, Kapow Primary’s D&T lessons include a range of strategies to support and challenge every pupil, including:

Scaffolding – activities are designed with flexibility in mind, allowing for additional support or challenge where needed.

Multi-sensory approaches – lessons incorporate different elements to engage all learners.

Clear instructions and structured tasks – ensuring clarity and reducing cognitive load for pupils who benefit from additional support.

Opportunities for collaborative and independent learning – allowing pupils to work at their own pace while building confidence and independence.

By embedding adaptive teaching throughout, the scheme ensures that all pupils, regardless of their starting points, can access and succeed in their learning.

In addition, the step-by-step curriculum design supports pupils with SEND, avoiding sudden jumps in complexity at transition points and allowing for steady, manageable progression.

Inclusion and diversity

Kapow Primary’s D&T curriculum is designed to be inclusive and representative, ensuring all pupils see themselves reflected in the products, users and contexts they explore.

The scheme features a diverse range of design traditions, food cultures, materials and technologies from around the world and encourages pupils to design with empathy and respect to a variety of users.

This approach helps challenge stereotypes, broaden perspectives and celebrate design as a practical, creative and culturally-rich human endeavour.