Mrs Bland's Infant and Nursery

Design and Technology

design and technology quote by Steve Jobs "design is not just what it looks like and feels like, design is how it works"

Intent

At Mrs. Bland’s Infant and Nursery School it is our intent to deliver a Design and Technology curriculum which ignites a passion for creating “something for someone for some purpose” (Design and Technology Association). We intend to develop children’s capability to create high quality products through combining their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding. We intend to develop a sense of enjoyment and pride in their ability to make and to nurture their creativity and innovation through designing and making. Through making, changing and modifying things for themselves, children come to a greater understanding of their world and develop a sense of agency – of being able to change and modify their environment.

Implementation

Early Years Foundation Stage

During the EYFS pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. They have the opportunities to learn to:

• Use different media and materials to express their own ideas

• Use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about form, function and purpose

• Make plans and construct with a purpose in mind using a variety of resources

• Develop skills to use simple tools and techniques appropriately, effectively and safely

• Select appropriate resources for a product and adapt their work where necessary

• Cook and prepare food adhering to good health and hygiene routines

Key Stage One

Our Design and Technology is in line with the National Curriculum and is based on the ‘Projects on a Page’ scheme of work from the Design and Technology Association.

This is implemented through:

A well thought out, whole school, yearly overview of the D&T curriculum which allows for progression across year groups in all areas of D&T (textiles, mechanisms, structures, food technology).
Well planned and resourced projects which give children a hands-on experience.
A range of skills being taught ensuring that children are aware of health and safety issues related to the tasks undertaken.
Teachers being given ownership and flexibility to plan for D&T – as a block of lessons or weekly as suits the particular project and cohort of children.
Each project in Key Stage 1 addressing the principles of designing, making and evaluating and incorporating relevant technical knowledge and understanding.
As a school, we promote Design and Technology in the wider school through:
- An Autumn whole school project to create and sell Christmas decorations at our Christmas Fair.
- Gardening (as part of outdoor learning). Each year group has a vegetable patch, where the children can learn about where our food comes by growing their own.

Impact:

By providing our children with an excellent design and technology curriculum that provides a wide range of opportunities to develop their skills in design and technology we hope that our children will have:

Clear enjoyment and confidence in Design and Technology that they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum.
Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.
A firm foundation of knowledge and skills to see them equipped to take on further learning in junior and secondary school.

To measure the impact of the implementation of our Design and Technology curriculum there will be ongoing Children mixing cake mix in bowl monitoring of the children’s understanding, knowledge and skills by the class teacher, throughout each unit and a summative assessment conducted by each year group after a unit of work. This informs the Design and Technology co-ordinator of any further areas for curriculum development, pupil support and/or training requirements for staff. EYFS pupils' progress and attainment is tracked termly and staff assessment grids tell us whether each individual child is below expected or at expected attainment for their age.