In our school, we want children to be able to make the most of their imagination and creativity. We want them to be resourceful, enterprising and innovative problem solvers, able to take risks whilst still working within a brief. Design and technology (DT) provides an opportunity for children to combine these skills with knowledge and understanding in order to create quality products. Children will have opportunities to experience creating products using a range of different materials and tools. Design and Technology also shares skills with a wide range of subjects such as literacy, mathematics, science, art, PSHE and computing and is a really practical way to practise and reinforce these skills.
Key Stage 1 topics:
Key Stage 2 topics:
Through each of these topics, children will learn to work within the design, make and evaluate process:
Design
- Children research and design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria, communicating their ideas in sketchbooks, verbally presenting ideas or by creating a mock-up.
Make
- We want children to enjoy the designing and making process. They will make their own decisions about the shape, function and aesthetic of their product as well as selecting the tools and materials that they will need to create their product from their design.
Evaluate
- As part of their initial research, children explore and evaluate a range of existing products and then evaluate their own designs against these products and the brief. Once their product is made, they will learn to evaluate and improve their products, so that they produce a final design that is functional and that they are proud of.
SEND
Children with SEND will experience the full range of DT learning experiences. Modelling, demonstration and pictorial instructions will support their understanding. Some children may need some additional support from an adult for some of the practical parts of their projects, but will complete as much as they can themselves. All children will have opportunities to talk about their designs, including talking through their design process and their evaluations. Children will be supported to record their work through discussion, vocabulary mats and sentence stems.
