Through our Design and Technology curriculum, we encourage all children to think and be creative, and to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team.
Children from Reception to Year 6 are given opportunities to work on a range of designing and making activities, acquiring knowledge of materials, mechanisms, structures and electrical control. They develop practical skills by working with a variety of materials such as wood, clay, textiles and food. They explore how familiar things work and think about what products are used for and the needs of people who use them. They plan what has to be done and identify what works well and what could be improved in their own and other people’s designs, considering relevant health and safety elements.
There are five areas of study: cooking and nutrition, mechanisms, structures, textiles and electrical systems. Within each area, children develop their technical knowledge and design, making and evaluative skills.
Links are made to other areas of the curriculum, wherever possible, in order to further children’s knowledge and deepen their understanding.
Curriculum Content
Reception
In Reception, the children explore a range of materials, media and tools. They learn to use tools safely and create things based on their interests and on the topics studied.
Year 1
In Year 1, the children learn how to identify fruits and vegetables and then design and make a smoothie or salad. They explore levers and sliders to make a moving story book. They learn the different ways they can join fabrics together through the creation of a puppet.
Year 2
In Year 2, the children explore what makes a balanced diet and taste test combinations of different food groups before designing and making a wrap. They experiment with different shapes and manipulate materials to explore and evaluate a range of structural properties. They then apply this knowledge to their own design of ‘baby bear’s chair’. They experiment with mechanisms before designing and making a moving vehicle.
Year 3
In Year 3, the children learn about seasonality and how the climate a food is grown in can alter the way it tastes and make a crumble and tart using seasonal ingredients. They learn to sew cross stitch and appliqué and then apply this to the design and creation of an Egyptian collar. They are introduced to static electricity and observe the effects of it on different objects before designing and making a simple game which uses static electricity.
Year 4
In Year 4, the children adapt a recipe by adding or altering the ingredients and then work in groups to create a final design that falls within a set budget and design brief. In an introduction to pavilion architecture, they experiment with frame structures before designing their own landscape and pavilion, using a wider range of materials and construction techniques. They are introduced to electricity and electrical safety before making a simple electric circuit to create a functioning torch.
Year 5
In Year 5, the children learn blanket stitch and then design and make a decoration. They develop their knowledge of structures, levers, sliders, layers and spacers to create their own pop-up book. They explore electric circuits and use of motors and then apply this knowledge to design and make their own electric doodler.
Year 6
In Year 6, the children draw upon their skills and knowledge of structures, to design and create a model of a new playground. They also apply the sewing skills they have learned in previous years to create a Tudor bookmark.