Design & Technology

“Design is thinking made visual!

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” –

Benjamin Franklin

Design and Technology is taught through projects in each year group, with some discrete teaching, particularly of skills such as using scissors and cutting safely.

Early Years Foundation Stage

In Nursery and Reception it is taught within the Physical Development, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design Areas of Learning of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.

In Nursery and Reception the continuous provision areas that involve D&T are the creative area, fine motor area, loose parts area, construction area and outdoor provision. The children use a range of materials and techniques to create their own open-ended products that support their imaginative play such as making castles out of large planks and crates outside or junk modelling in the creative area. Although children have access to each area independently, challenges are included to ensure key skills are applied.

Key Stage One

In Key Stage One we follow the National Curriculum.

The strands of learning are:

Designing

understanding contexts, users and purposes
generating, developing, modelling and communicating ideas

Making

planning
practical skills and techniques

Evaluating

own ideas and products
existing products

Technical Knowledge

making products work

Cooking and Nutrition

finding out where food comes from
how to prepare simple dishes safely and hygienically
how to name and sort foods into the five groups

Most of the learning takes place through projects but some Design and Technology lessons are taught to ensure full curriculum coverage. Children have access to an increasing range of materials and tools.

Some products are made across the school for celebrations like Chinese New Year where lanterns are made and Christmas envelopes to hold our Christmas crafts. Paper manipulation and joining techniques are often used when creating cards for Christmas and Easter. Children are also provided with the opportunity to bake and design their own food products from healthy pizzas to decorated themed biscuits.

Useful links

How can I support my child with design and technology?

To support design and technology at home, you don’t need fancy design and technology materials. Just provide access to as many different opportunities to research, investigate, design, make and evaluate! Design and technology doesn’t always have to be ‘making’. It is important that children investigate and reflect! It may be that they observe you using tools, cooking or even patching up clothes!

When using tools and equipment, it is important that children are supervised and know how to use them safely and correctly, for example; holding scissors correctly and carrying them safely when moving around. Allowing children to have time to make mistakes and face challenges is crucial – the best way for them to learn is to reflect and evaluate! It’s also important to let them go off on tangents – if something captures their imagination and they follow their own path, then celebrate that.

Perhaps you are reading a story, could you encourage your child to design something relevant to this? A rocket for example! Encourage them to think about the designing steps, what materials they would need and what tools they would need!