Google Services
Search
Search
Translate
Translate
Lons Infant School
Learning, Opportunities, Nurturing, Success
Log in
DT
Our Design Technology Learning
Intent
At Lons Infant School, we aim to enable our children to feel confident when using design and technology methods and processes. Design and Technology is a practical subject in which pupils have the experience of designing, making and evaluating products. We believe that problem-solving and creativity are key aspects of pupil’s development. Design and Technology is unique in that it allows freedom of creativity for children to design their own solutions to relevant problems, with real-life contexts, and for real users.
Design and Technology encourages children to think about products in the world around them and question how and why things work the way they do. Children will also apply knowledge and skills from and within other subjects, such maths, computing and art whilst working on Design and Technology projects.
Through Design and Technology, our children become more focused on what makes a successful product and more imaginative when thinking about how a product could be made or improved. They will learn to consider design criteria and evaluate their techniques, skills, and finished products throughout the Design, Make, and Evaluate process. Alongside developing these fundamental skills, children will be inspired by their learning in Design and Technology, setting them on a path to be the designers, makers and inventors of the future.
Implementation
The National Curriculum states that Design and Technology enables pupils to, ‘Learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens.’
We aim to achieve this with a Design and Technology curriculum which encourages pupils to develop their creative, technical and practical expertise, enabling them to perform everyday tasks with confidence. Our curriculum is designed to provide children with many opportunities for learning through doing and practical, hands-on experiences. We believe that by developing this, we can contribute to the quality of our children’s lives, both within and beyond school. Fostering their enthusiasm for designing, making, modifying and inventing products. This will enable them, one day, to contribute to our increasingly technological world.
The Design and Technology curriculum at Lons consists of age-appropriate and progressive learning activities; designed for all pupils to access with increasing levels of independence. During Reception, a mix of adult-led learning and child-led ‘Choosing Time’ activities provide opportunities for children to explore, gain confidence working with, and learn to use, a range of construction kits, tools, and materials. In Key Stage One, pupils undertake projects linked to seasonal activities and topic focuses.
Each project begins by informing pupils about the user, intended purpose and function of the product. Children are given time to explore and evaluate existing products, before learning related technical knowledge, skills and techniques. Design criteria is developed with children’s input, and is considered throughout the design, make and evaluate process. Finally, children evaluate the success of their final product, based on the extent to which it meets the design criteria.
Impact
Pupil interviews show that children at Lons Infant School enjoy D&T. They develop resilience, resourcefulness and take risks through the opportunities we provide. They are proud of the high-quality products they make, and are increasingly reflective when considering the success of their products.
We measure the impact of our curriculum using the following methods:
- A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes
- Reference to, and revision of, our Design and Technology Sticky Learning document to ensure a clear progression of skills, knowledge and vocabulary
- Pupils’ discussions about their learning (pupil voice)
- Book/ online folder looks in conjunction with teacher judgements
- Monitoring planning of lessons by the subject lead and providing feedback
- Creation and monitoring of a Design and Technology Action Plan by the subject lead and Head Teacher
- In Reception, children are assessed against the EYFS checkpoints for Expressive Arts and Design.
