Design and Technology
Intent
As a federation we aim to cultivate a Design and Technology (DT) curriculum that ignites children’s curiosity and inspires them to unleash their creativity and imagination. Our teaching encourages young learners to design, create, and evaluate products that address relevant challenges within the topics they study providing them with context for their projects. We are committed to ensuring that all children develop the knowledge, skills, and understanding outlined in the National Curriculum. We celebrate and promote our Learning Powers—‘Creative Crusader,’ ‘Inspector Independent,’ ‘Resilient Ranger,’ ‘Captain Curiosity,’ and ‘Co-operation Cop’—through the teaching of Design and Technology, just as we do in other areas of the curriculum. Our planning focuses on enhancing children’s skills and knowledge in design, structures, and mechanisms, utilizing a diverse range of materials, including textiles and food.
Implementation
At Grove House and Kings Park Infant School, our Design and Technology curriculum follows the National Curriculum and our supporting documentation, ensuring pupils build upon their previous learning and progress towards future expectations. In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), children explore various media and materials through child-initiated and adult-directed activities, with daily opportunities for developing design skills through den building, junk modelling, and construction toys. Our Key Stage 1 (KS1) curriculum focuses on four essential elements: designing, making, evaluating, and technical knowledge, taught through mechanisms, textiles, food, and structures. Children begin by exploring existing products before creating their own, communicating ideas through drawings. They learn to construct their products with care and evaluate them. Each project is tied to our curriculum topics, providing children with context. Through this approach, we foster a vibrant learning environment where curiosity and innovation flourish. Throughout, lessons incorporate rich subject-specific vocabulary and links to mathematics, science, and computing, fostering a comprehensive understanding of design and technology as a valued area of learning.
Impact
The impact of our Design and Technology curriculum in our Federation is evident in the skills and confidence our pupils develop as they progress through EYFS and into KS1. By engaging in a hands-on learning environment, children cultivate creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities that are essential for their overall development. They learn to work collaboratively and independently, enhancing their communication skills while fostering a sense of responsibility and ownership over their projects. The systematic approach to designing, making, and evaluating encourages a growth mindset, enabling students to embrace feedback as an opportunity for learning. As they connect their projects to real-world applications, children gain an understanding of the relevance of design and technology in various industries, sparking interest in potential future careers. Overall, our curriculum instils a lifelong love of learning and innovation, equipping children with the foundational skills they need to succeed in an ever-evolving world.
DT in EYFS
Art and Design is embedded within the Early Years’ Foundation Stage Curriculum through the use of the learning environment and classroom provision. The children are given a wealth of opportunities to engage in activities, both child-initiated and adult directed, which enable them to experiment with a range of media and materials to mark make, model and construct. During the children’s time in Early Years’ Foundation Stage, the essential building blocks of Art and Design capability are established these skills then build on in KS1
