Design and Technology

Here at St James' C of E Infant and Nursery School, our Design and Technology curriculum is designed to prepare our children for the forever developing world. Through the study of Design and Technology, children combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, in order to design and make a product, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. Design Technology encourages children to become creative problem solvers and risk takers, both individually and as part of a team. We intend to expose our children to Design and Technology within a wide range of contexts that reflect the real world. and draw on areas of learning such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. All learning carries a defined purpose and meaning to the individual child.

We believe that by providing high-quality DT education, we can teach our children not only to design and produce, but also to evaluate. A significant emphasis on the importance of evaluation allows children to adjust and improve their work, giving them not only a sense of accomplishment but also a solid foundation for the next step in their learning and an important skill for life.

We also understand that the teaching of food and nutrition holds a great importance, especially in current times. Food technology is delivered as part of Design and Technology and we implement a healthy lifestyle curriculum. Children develop their knowledge and understanding of nutrition, healthy eating, food preparation, hygiene, cooking techniques, and sensory characteristics in addition to understanding where their food comes from.

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in Design and Technology, we implement a progressive curriculum throughout the whole school.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), our continuous provision is designed to promote skills of inquiry, problem solving, shared decision making and scientific approaches to ‘understanding the world’. Continuous provision areas allow children to create their own open-ended products that support their imaginative play.  This, alongside practitioners who are trained to observe, understand and develop these skills, will in turn, create confident and curious learners. This builds the foundations, embeds learning and prepares the children for a more specific approach to Design and Technology as they move into Key Stage 1.

In Key Stage 1, we implement a scheme of work which is designed by leading subject specialists in Design and Technology. This ensures a full coverage; showing a clear progression of skills in order to  meet the end of Key Stage 1 expectations The scheme offers a broad and balanced curriculum which underpins the expectations of the National Curriculum and supports teachers to achieve the learning outcomes of each project to a high standard. The lessons offer the children opportunities to relate to current knowledge, discover new ways of thinking, communicate their ideas, explore existing products and draw on knowledge from other subjects such as Science, Mathematics, Computing and Art.

During each project children will always,

•             Design- Children will always design products for an intended user, they will be inspired by  real life and have a purpose in mind. Through research and study of design criteria, useful and suitable products will be designed.  When planning, the children will use a range of formats such as sketches with annotations, templates, communicating verbally and in some cases, computers will aid the design process.

•             Make – Children are given opportunities to select from and use a range of tools and equipment for their practical tasks (for example cutting, shaping, joining and finishing). Building on their prior and growing knowledge they are able to select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients to create a high-quality end product.

•             Evaluate – This allows our children to explore, test and evaluate a range of existing products as well as evaluate their own ideas and products against design criteria building on technological knowledge and vocabulary.

Our stimulating and progressive curriculum will ensure that the children at our school will have clear enjoyment and confidence in Design and Technology that they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum. Children will ultimately know more, remember more and understand more about this subject, demonstrating this knowledge when using tools or skills in other areas of the curriculum and in opportunities out of school. As a result of this, children will develop skills and attributes they can use beyond school and into adulthood.

Our Design and Technology subject leader is Mrs Joanne Cocksedge.