Design Technology

At Coxhoe Primary School we believe that all children should be given rich and broad opportunities to explore the world around them. We encourage all children to become problem solvers, creative thinkers and project developers.

What we say about Design Technology at Coxhoe Primary School

Our DT lead, Miss Calvert, says...

At Coxhoe Primary School we recognise that Design and Technology is an essential element in a broad, balanced, coherent and relevant curriculum. We aim to develop each pupil’s creative, imaginative and evaluative thinking in a constructive way. We teach Design and Technology to equip our pupils with the understanding to enable them to become future citizens in an increasingly technological and complex world. We aim to give pupils opportunities to investigate and explore existing products to understand their function and purpose. From this exploration pupils can combine their knowledge and understanding with designing and making skills to produce products, which are fit for their purpose.

Our Year 6 DT Ambassadors say...

We love Design and Technology because it lets us be creative, solve problems, and make amazing things! Using Microbits is incredibly fun — we get to use technology to design and build our own inventions. We also enjoy cooking, sewing, and construction. It’s exciting to learn new skills and see our ideas come to life. One of our favourite projects was designing and helping to make parts of a playground — it felt great to build something for everyone to enjoy. DT helps us think like engineers, designers and creators. Some of us even want to be builders when we grow up! We hope more children get to explore DT and discover how fun and inspiring it can be.

Children across the school say...

DT is one of my favourite lessons! I have enjoyed designing and making a Ferris wheel - Lucio (Year 2)

I enjoyed making an electrical poster and bringing it to life by creating an electrical system - Disha (Year 3)

My favourite lesson is DT! I enjoy textiles and learning how things work! - Goldie (Year 4)

I enjoy designing new things - we have designed and made a playground. - Charlotte (Year 6)

Curriculum Intent

Intent of the Design Technology Curriculum

At Coxhoe Primary School we aim to provide children with a design technology education that is relevant in our rapidly changing world. We want to encourage our children to become problem solvers who can work creatively on a shared project. We believe that high-quality design technology lessons will inspire children to think independently, innovatively and develop creative, procedural and technical understanding. Our design technology curriculum provides children with opportunities to research, represent their ideas, explore and investigate, develop their ideas, make a product and evaluate their work. Children will be exposed to a wide range of media including textiles, food and woodwork; through this, children will develop their skills, vocabulary and resilience.

To read our full intent, implementation and impact, click the link:

D.T. Intent

Our Design Technology Policy

Our DT Risk Assessment

Enrichment opportunities

After school clubs: Lego, Junk Modelling, Play Dough
Forest School
Year 1 visit The Angel of the North and local wind turbines/windmills
Year 1 take part in a Chartwells workshop about food and 5 senses
Year 2 ake part in a Chartwells workshop about healthy eating
UKS2 visit Bowes Meseum as part of their textiles unit, Coxhoe park as part of their structures unit and Broom House Farm as part of their cooking and nutrition unit
Promotion of careers in STEM (careers fair and online workshops)

Long Term Plan

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Useful Websites

Electrical Systems

Food Technology

Recipe ideas to make at home

Micro:bit

STEM Learning

Dyson Engineering Challenges

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Design Technology at Coxhoe Primary School 2025-26

Autumn Term 2025

Pupil Voice - What our children have said about enrichment this term:

Our thoughts on our visit to Coxhoe Park:

Summary of what you did: We walked around Coxhoe Park to look at the equipment. We went to sketch some of the equipment to help us design our own park in DT and Art and Design

What did you like about the visit?We got to have an active lesson and we were still learning from it. It was good to see the equipment in person instead of just imagining it. Researching is better. We are not just sitting in school, we are going to see it.

What new knowledge have you gained from this visit? We learnt how to make swings and how park equipment is put together. We had a close up look and looked in more detail about each structure had been made.

What will you tell others about the visit? It was fun to walk to the park to see how the structures are made. Nice to get fresh air and not be in the classroom.

Which careers/jobs did you see on the visit? What we saw: teachers, dog-walkers, cyclists. Who helps to make and upkeep the park: engineers, park designers, builders, inspectors to make sure the equipment and design is safe, DCC, Safety flooring, groundworks, site managers, litter pickers, grass cutters, gardeners.

What skills/qualities would you need to do that career/job? Good at maths, art and design, have imagination, like to work outdoors, have patience because you can’t give up, resilience, you would have to like children, be good at computing (CAD), English.