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Design & Technology

Intention

Design and technology at St Thomas’ is engaging and inspiring, promoting an emphasis on children problem solving and developing their creativity. Plentiful opportunities are given to consider and create items that are meaningful and relevant to the child, their learning and  real life current issues.

 

Children are encouraged to promote a deeper level of thinking by discussing their focus and developing steps and strategies on how to influence this. They consider problems that they may encounter and offer solutions to these making additions to plans or creations when needed. 

 

A range of resources are used to portray their design and skills are developed.

 

 

Implementation

 

  • Children receive a half termly focus on Design and Technology projects, with two hour lessons each week to build upon. 
  • Teachers lead and support students to consider problems and encourage them to call upon their skills to solve these. 
  • Children are at the forefront of their projects through discussion and planning of steps to take to design their own pieces of work. 
  • Reflective practise aids opportunities to consider what went well or how the object could be changed to better suit the needs of the learning aim. Children will share ideas and try different techniques to find and demonstrate different outcomes.

 

 

Impact

Children display a willingness and excitement to participate in Design Technology topics. They become more confident to share their ideas with their peers and consider different ways to find a solution. Pupils work as part of a team to encourage one another to complete specific skills and to also reflect on their creations. As a result, they develop resilience and perseverance.

 

EYFS

 
  •  Develop their small motor skills so that they can use a range of tools competently, safely and confidently.
  •  Use their core muscle strength to achieve good posture when sitting at a table or sitting on the floor.
  •  Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings.
  •  Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to represent them.
  •  Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.
ELG's
  •  Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery.
  •  Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, tex-ture, form and function.
  •  Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.

Year 1

Autumn

Spring

Summer

  • Using pictures and words to plan
  • Explaining what we are making and our own ideas
  • Cutting materials using scissors
  • Describing how something works
  • Making a product that moves

 

 

  • Explaining what I want to do and thinking of some ideas independently
  • Making simple plans
  • Selecting appropriate resources and tools
  • Cutting materials using scissors
  • Making a structure or model using different materials

 

  • Describing how different textures feel
  • Grouping and sorting fabrics and threads
  • Creating weavings using a range of materials
  • Cutting food safely and describing the texture

Washing hands and making sure surfaces are clean

 

Year 2

Autumn

Spring

Summer

  • Design a product using ideas and plan what to do next.
  • Make a textile product by marking out, cutting and joining pieces of fabric.
  • Look at a selection of hand puppets and base their design on their investigations into how the puppets have been made and who they have been designed for.
  • Explain what went well during task.
  • Explain what improvements could be made if the task were to be repeated.

 

Winding Mechanisms:

  • Use a range of materials creatively to design and make products.
  • Research, design and build a winding mechanism to enhance and develop their D&T and team work skills.
  • Use tools to assemble, join and combine materials.
  • Talk about their own and others’ work.
  • Suggest their own ideas for improvement and explain this in detail.

 

  • Designing and making a healthy wrap and fruit salad.
  • Generating ideas by drawing on their own and other people’s experiences.
  • Selecting tools, materials and use the appropriate vocabulary to name and describe them.
  • Using hand tools safely and appropriately.
  • Evaluating against their design criteria.

 

 

Year 3

Autumn

Spring

Summer

  • We will be creating our own mini versions of wattle and daub walls and exploring structural and scientific elements of construction.
  • We will share our ideas, then experiment with new mediums whilst developing a range of art and design techniques.

 

  • Learning about healthy sandwiches.
  • Creating a design for a sandwich; making the product whilst learning basic food preparations, techniques and evaluating the chosen idea against the brief.
  • Writing instructions in English.

 

  • Learning how to build a photo frame, understanding how to stiffen materials and make a stable structure.
  • Creating designs make products and evaluate the chosen idea.
  • Linking this to our Art topic of portraits.

 

 

Year 4

Autumn

Spring

Summer

Through our learning of the Anglo-Saxons, we will be learning to:

  • Come up with at least one idea about how to create my product.
  • Measure carefully so as to make sure I don’t make mistakes.
  • Take on other people’s advice when designing.
  • Begin to explain how I can improve my original design.
  • To show a good level of expertise when using a range of tools and equipment.
  • To work at a product even if original idea did not work very well.

 

We will learn about food technology linked to our theme of France, learning the following skills:

  • Know what to do to be hygienic and safe.
  • Thinking about what I can do to present my product in an interesting way.
  • Take other people’s ideas into account when designing.
  • Produce a plan and explain it to others.
  • Suggest some improvements and say what was good and not so good about my design.

 

Through our topic of Africa, we will take inspiration from books and historical events, using the following skills:       

  • Use earlier learnt skills (sewing using different stitches, sewing on detail, quilting etc) as part of a project.
  • Think about how to make my product strong.
  • Devise a template.
  • Use a range of advanced techniques to shape and mould.
  • Use finishing techniques showing an aware of audience.
  • Tell if my finished product is going to be of good quality
  • Evaluate my product thinking of both appearance and how it works
  • Take time to consider how I could have made my idea better

 

 

Year 5

Autumn

Spring

Summer

Through a diorama based design process linked to our topic on space.

  • Generate ideas through brainstorming and identifying a purpose for a product.
  • Select appropriate materials, tools and techniques.
  • Measure and mark out accurately.
  • Cut and join with accuracy.
  • Use basic skills in using different tools and equipment safely and accurately, with some support.
  • Evaluate work at the end of the assignment.

 

Through a Victorian puppet theatre based design process linked to our topic on Victorians.

New skills to be learned: scoring, reinforcing, detailed diagram drawing.

  • Generate ideas through brainstorming and identifying a purpose for a product.
  • Select appropriate materials, tools and techniques.
  • Produce a detailed step-by-step plan.
  • Check to see whether anything can be improved.
  • Evaluate appearance and function against the original criteria

 

 

Mayan Printing (cross over with art)

Making Mayan food)

  • Produce a detailed step-by-step plan.
  • Suggest some good alternative plans and discuss the positives and negatives about each.
  • Keep checking that design is the best that it can be.
  • Check to see whether anything can be improved.
  • Evaluate appearance and function against the original criteria.
  • Describe how to be both hygienic and safe.
  • Present a product well.

 

 

Year 6

Autumn

Spring

Summer

  • Using tools safely and accurately.
  • Planning the order of work and developing a design specification.
  • Constructing products using permanent joining techniques.
  • Pinning, sewing and stitching materials together to create a product.
  • Making modifications as we go along.
  • Evaluating against the original criteria and suggest ways to improve.

 

  • Working collaboratively on a larger scale.
  • Producing increasingly detailed preparatory sketches.
  • Making imaginative use of knowledge of tools, techniques and materials to express ideas and feelings.
  • Identifying suitable equipment and material to convey ideas.
  • Developing the experience of embellishing.

 

  • Producing increasingly detailed preparatory sketches.
  • Planning the order of work, choosing appropriate materials, tools and techniques.
  • Exploring, developing and communicating aspects of design proposals by modelling ideas in different ways.
  • Selecting appropriate tools, materials, components and techniques.
  • Using tools safely and accurately.
  • Constructing products using permanent joining techniques.
  • Evaluating products, identifying strengths and areas for development.

 

 

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