Design Technology
Intent
At Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery, we have created an ambitious and engaging Design Technology curriculum which equips children with the knowledge and skills needed for modern Britain. Design Technology education involves the elements of learning about the designed and made world and how things work, as well as learning to design and make functional products for particular purposes and users.
Design Technology teaching and learning at Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery provides opportunities for children to:
- Learn fundamental knowledge and skills about how the world works around them.
- Think creatively, innovative and take risks.
- Think critically and problem solve.
- Evaluate their products and make adaptations and improvements.
- Work collaboratively with others.
- Design and make functional products for purposes and users.
- Apply knowledge and understanding of materials and components, mechanisms and control systems, structures, existing products, quality and health and safety
Design Technology is often practical in nature and is an engaging subject for children. It is also a cross-curricular subject where children can apply a range of knowledge and skills that they have learnt in other subjects such as maths, science, PSHE and English. It is a platform for developing skills in numeracy and literacy in a practical, purposeful and engaging way.
Implementation
At Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery, we have created a sequential and ambitious curriculum which builds on foundational knowledge and skills. Our Design Technology curriculum follows the statutory National Curriculum guidance; however, it is purposeful and adapted to make it bespoke for the children within our community. Design Technology is a subject that all children can engage with at their varied starting points. It is a practical subject which children can utilise academic knowledge and understanding, but also develops personal qualities such as perseverance, resilience, problem solving, collaboration and ambition.
Design Technology in the Early Years
In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), children learn through a practical and hands on approach. Opportunities within the provision such as building and construction (both large and small), and through creative tasks such as junk modelling, art, ‘making’ and through creative role play, children develop the key knowledge and skills of Design Technology.
Children also develop Design and Technology knowledge and skills through the three ‘Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning’:
- Playing and exploring- Children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’.
- Active learning- Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties and enjoy achievements.
- Creating and thinking critically- Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.
In the EYFS, children are given the opportunity to engage in practical Design Technology related tasks in the provision, both child-initiated and through activities initiated by skilled adults. Adults in the EYFS use careful questioning to develop children’s metacognitive Design Technology knowledge and skills such as:
- “I wonder what would happen if…”
- “How could we make this better…”
- “How are you going to approach this?”
- “X’s idea made me think…”
- “Perhaps we should try…”
- “What if we tried ___ next?”
- “Have you thought about…”
- “This reminds me of when we learnt about…”
In Reception, children are also taught Design and Technology knowledge and skills through discrete lessons, for example teaching children specific joining techniques which they can use in their junk modelling creations, making a fruit salad, learning about the structure of buildings in London and re-making these in the classroom, making toast and developing early sewing skills through threading opportunities. The key knowledge and skills have been carefully mapped out for each of these blocks of learning, so that children build on prior knowledge and skills and prepare them for future learning in Design Technology.
Design Technology in Key Stage 1
In Key Stage 1, children will build upon their prior Design and Technology learning in the Early Years. In Year 1 and 2, our Design Technology curriculum has been created to ensure coverage across all Design and Technology areas, including mechanisms and mechanical systems, cooking and nutrition, structures and textiles.
In Year 1 and Year 2, children will engage in three taught units of Design and Technology over the year. These units build upon prior knowledge and skills, for example in Year 2, children will use their knowledge of London buildings from Reception when learning about the structure of bridges, in particular famous bridges in London. In Year 1, children will design and make a model rocket, building upon the foundational knowledge and skills of joining techniques they learnt in Reception.
In Key Stage 1, children are taught to:
- Design- This includes planning, communicating their ideas, creating drawings and diagrams, ensuring that their products are appealing and, purposeful and functional.
- Make- This includes using tools and equipment to perform practical tasks and exploring and using materials.
- Evaluate- This includes exploring and evaluating a range of existing products, as well as evaluating their own ideas and products against a design criteria.
Throughout our Design Technology curriculum, we have links to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Children develop technical knowledge such as building structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, as well as exploring and using mechanisms such as levers, sliders and axles in their products.
Impact
By the end of their journey at Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery, children will have developed the following Design and Technology knowledge and skills:
- Confidence to take risks and enjoy the process of trial and error, showing perseverance and resilience when completing a task.
- Be equipped with secure Design and Technology knowledge and skills to support further learning in Key Stage 2.
- Confidently select appropriate tools and materials and explain their reasoning.
- Use a wide range of techniques for designing, building, joining, preparing, creating and evaluating.
- Evaluate and critique their own products, as well as the products of others.
Teachers use responsive formative assessment strategies such as observations, pupil dialogue, questioning and assessing against the success criteria when considering how children have achieved in Design Technology lessons. Further teaching and learning is adapted accordingly, to meet the needs and next steps of the individual child.
Teaching and learning in Design Technology is monitored by our Design Technology subject leader. This includes observing the teaching of Design Technology lessons, adapting and developing key curriculum documents and monitoring pupil learning through capturing pupil voice, book looks and through planning scrutinies.
Below, you will find some useful links to support Design Technology (DT) learning at home: