Children develop the skills involved in designing, making and evaluating products. Children also develop their technical knowledge through exploring mechanisms and building structures. Children are taught and encouraged, to select and use tools and equipment independently. There are lots of opportunities for children to learn cooking techniques, where food comes from and learn the importance of nutrition in a creative and cross curricular way.

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Design and Technology 

 

Intention 

 

Design and technology is an inspiring, exciting and practical subject encouraging children to learn and develop creatively and imaginatively, both as individuals and as part of a team.  Pupils develop the skills involved in designing, making and evaluating products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, acquiring a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, computing, engineering and art. Pupils learn how to apply prior knowledge and take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable members of the school community. 

 

Implementation

 

In Foundation children are taught Design and Technology skills through the Early Years Foundation Curriculum, where children practice, explore and consolidate their skills through ‘Let’s Explore’.  Children are taught explicit skills such as cutting, sticking and use of simple tools and use various recyclable materials for ‘junk modelling’ on a regular basis. Through the use of a ‘creation station’ children are also given the opportunity to independently select resources and explore their use.  

 

In Year 1 and 2, design technology is often taught in ‘blocks’, once a term, using the year groups current theme as a stimulus. Children are taught to evaluate current products, taught explicit skills through ‘focussed practical tasks’, to design against a given brief and create and compare designs against the design criteria.  

 

Within Key Stage One, objectives are taken from the National curriculum and shared between each Year Group. Progression and breadth of study is documented in the school’s curriculum overview and covers a range of skills from construction to cooking.  

 

Within Year One, children learn how to make structures stronger by exploring strength in different shapes.  They learn how fixed and moving axles work and then design and make their own moving vehicle. They also learn how to design and make healthy snacks – including sandwiches in our Inside Out topic and a healthy fruit salad in Healthy Hearts Happy Lives week.

 

In Year Two, children learn about materials in order to make a den when learning about explorers, learn how to make a slider mechanism and are taught how to prepare, design and source certain foods as part of a world theme.

 

Impact 

 

Children learn specific skills for constructing and creating and are confident to explore processes by developing their technical knowledge through exploring mechanisms, building structures and learning cooking techniques.  Children are able to select and use specific tools for a purpose and decide whether to work independently or together to achieve an end goal.  Children learn the importance of nutrition and where their food comes from and can reflect upon and evaluate their end products. 

 

Design and technology at Christchurch Infant School is fun and engaging, helping to start children on their journey to become healthy, resourceful and innovative young people. 

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What DT looks like in Early Years

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What DT looks like in Year 1

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What DT looks like in Year 2