Design Technology
Why?
We aim to encourage children to understand how purposeful design technology is for now and the future. It is an inspiring, rigorous, and practical subject. We plan lessons that allow curiosity, creativity, and imagination to influence the pupils designs and the products they make.
‘Making things seem to be at the heart of what it is to be human, part of our basic make- up as a curious and creative species. To develop these skills in a practical context should form a rich part of every child’s education.’ (Hope, G. Mastering Primary DT 2019)
From Early Years to Year 6, the children are taught specific skills enabling them to create quality items. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children begin to appreciate that materials/objects have properties which make them suitable for a particular task. They learn to select and safely use an appropriate range of tools to produce a product which satisfies a particular purpose showing clear decision making. They build and construct with a wide range of objects adapting their work where necessary.
What?
Throughout the school we teach lessons with 3 key concepts; the Design, Make and Evaluate (DME) approach. Each lesson taught will use the DME to structure the lesson this encourages children to be more adaptable and encourages self-reflection.
In the Design stage of the lesson the children will be taught key skills, which include exploration, understanding the product and how it is made and can we reuse and recycle the product. As well as creating mock up and designs to evaluate.
In the Make part of the lesson the children will be taught key skills, which include using the information collected from previous lesson, to use tools correctly to perform practical tasks. Children will be encouraged to develop their ideas through discussion and make the correct choices of material based on the product they are designing.
The Evaluate part of the lessons is weaved through each stage of the Design and Make. As this encourages the children to ask questions and adapt their design before the product is finished.
WOW!
WANT TO FIND OUT MORE…
Please find below the links to some websites you may find useful when thinking about DT at home with your child.
If you have any suggestions of websites you have found useful, please do let the School Office
https://www.eathappyproject.com/at-home
Eat Happy is the initiative linked to Tesco and ‘Farm to Fork’. On this page there are many useful recipes and activities associated with food preparation. The activities are fun to do and help children to become motivated in finding out where their food comes from.
http://www.jamieshomecookingskills.com/skills.php
Jamie Oliver’s home cooking page provides you with a large number of videos to demonstrate a variety of food preparation skills. They are quick to watch and very informative.
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/subjects/dt
The Teaching ideas website provides many ideas for various design projects that you can complete with your child at home.
James Dyson’s website has a challenge card page that allows your child to explore their inner engineer.
