KS3 Medium Term Planner

Medium Term Planning for Design and Technology in secondary schools sets out how a practical project will be covered in the time allocated - usually a Term or Half Term. The project also provides the context through which the subject knowledge content is conveyed and learned.

The various prompts shown on the sample Secondary DT Medium Term Planner (shown opposite - click to enlarge and again to download) are intended as indicated below. This example is referred to as Appendix 2 in the sample D&T Safety Audit

• Details of the group and staffing
• An indication of which parts of a syllabus or Programme of Study (PoS) the task is aimed at and which D&T Focus Areas and D&T Strands the task is centred upon (an analysis of Medium Term Plans can then be used to check full coverage over the course as a whole).
• Prompts to indicate briefly what contribution the task will make towards general Literacy and Numeracy development.
• A week by week (or lesson by lesson) breakdown of what pupils will actually do and what resources they will require.
• Prompts to encourage a variety of teaching styles (e.g. different aspects of the task may benefit from whole class teaching, individual support, group work, demonstrations, etc.) as the task proceeds.
• An indication of what any Homeworks might focus on and what Assessment opportunities there might be so that both remain in the context of the task in hand and pupil motivation is maintained.
• A prompt to encourage and register the use of ICT in each D&T project undertaken.
• Space to consider how teaching might be Differentiated to meet the needs of differing abilities within the group (more open-endedness for some or extension activities or need to pre-prepare some materials for others).
• A record of any Health and Safety issues anticipated or Near Miss events that occurred during the lesson (so that future planning can minimise them by informing a future Risk Assessment).
• Space to note anything to consider if the project is to be run again to improve its value as a vehicle for meeting the course aims or to make it more manageable for example.