Clowne Infant & Nursery School
‘We take our children on a journey of discovery, giving them aspirations and engaging them in lifelong learning’
Welcome
Design & Technology
Design and Technology
‘’Knowing is NOT the most important thing. To be able to FIND OUT is more important than knowing.’’
Sugata Mitra
Intent: What are we trying to achieve?
Design technology provides pupils with the opportunity to develop specific technical skills and knowledge, whilst encouraging problem solving, reasoning, collaborative working, physical development, mathematical and communication and language skills. We believe that high quality design technology encourages children to explore real life products, to find out for themselves and draw conclusions through experience. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing. To be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others and know that it is always ok to try a different approach.
Implementation: How will we achieve this?
We have high aspirations for all children, including those with SEND and make use of adult support or specific equipment as needed to ensure all children achieve.
The teaching of design technology at Clowne Infant and Nursery School is based upon the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, Development Matters 2020 and the National Curriculum for Key Stage 1. To ensure a clear structure for the teaching of design technology across school, we use a scheme of work produced by Kapow - ‘Design Technology and Art and Design – (revised) -combined.’ The scheme sets out a curriculum map, where by art and design and design technology are alternated each term, whilst still ensuring children are provided with everything they need, in a progressive structure, to meet the end of key stage expectations. The National Curriculum organises the design and technology attainment targets under four subheadings: Design, Make, Evaluate, and Technical knowledge. Kapow have taken these as primary strands. These strands run throughout the key areas of learning of cooking and nutrition, structures, mechanisms and textiles. A clear progression of knowledge and skills showing the primary strands and the key areas of learning is in place to support teaching and learning.
Units of work outline a progression of lessons which follow the design process (design, make and evaluate) and have a particular theme and focus from the technical knowledge or cooking and nutrition section of the curriculum. By following the Kapow Primary scheme of work, we offer a spiral curriculum, with key areas revisited again and again with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revisit and build on their previous learning. We make use of knowledge organisers for each unit of work to support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary. In addition to adult led teaching activities, children in the EYFS have access to art and design as part of their continuous or enhanced provision. In this provision teachers and TA’s work with pupils on child initiated activities; modelling vocabulary, encouraging use of knowledge and further developing technical skills.
Teachers and teaching assistants continually monitor the progress of pupils. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives and each unit of work has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which is used with pupils both at the beginning and end of the unit.
Impact: What difference will this make?
Through delivering our design technology curriculum we will ensure that pupils:
- Understand the functional and aesthetic properties of a range of materials and resources.
- Understand and are confident to use the plan, make and review process.
- Understand how to use and combine tools to carry out different processes for shaping, decorating, and manufacturing products.
- Gain and apply a repertoire of skills, knowledge and understanding to produce high quality, innovative outcomes, including models, prototypes and products to fulfil the needs of users, clients, and scenarios.
- Understand the principles of healthy eating.
- Have an appreciation for key individuals, inventions, and events in history and of today that impact our world.
- Meet the end of key stage expectations for design technology.
Take a look what's happening in Design Technology in our school...
Throughout the first term this year, children in the EYFS have accessed exploratory DT within the continuous provision in the form of construction areas, investigation areas and junk modelling. Year Two children have completed their first art and design unit, whilst our Year One children have completed their first design and technology unit entitled ‘windmills’. They followed the design, make, test and evaluate process. Look at some of their work below…..
