DT

Raising aspirations is about helping children and to find options that suit them as individuals, ensuring they go on to have happy and fulfilling lives. At Minet, we believe Design Technology enables children to contribute to the culture, community, well-being and the creativity of themselves. It gives them the opportunity to take risks and so become more resourceful, innovative, and capable.

Intent

At Minet Infant and Nursery School, we aim to deliver high-quality Design Technology lessons that motivate children to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own needs and others’ needs, wants and values. Design Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject that should inspire children and provide them with opportunities for analysis of products, teamwork, investigation, problem solving, evaluation and testing of the quality products or prototypes that they make, understanding the impact this has for the wider world and cooking and nutrition with purposeful projects relating to a termly theme or topic. This ties with our school values of respect, responsibility, and resilience which is at the heart of our curriculum.

Implementation

The teaching of Design Technology follows the National Curriculum which gives the children opportunity to design, make and evaluate. In Key Stage 1, it is taught through topic-based learning and is taught once a term within the academic year. As a school we are dedicated to teaching and delivering high quality lessons through well planned and resourced projects. For example, children in Year 2 design a habitat ensuring they include a moving part within their model, this could be a pivot, wheel or lever. More information can be found in the medium-term plan.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult led activities in and outdoors. They explore the textures, movement, feel and look of different media and materials. They are also given many opportunities such as junk modelling, deconstruction building, mobilo, duplo, LEGO, wooden blocks, cutting and joining resources, hole punches, glue, sellotape, split pins, wool and string.

Impact

Children have clear enjoyment and confidence in Design and Technology that they are then able apply to other areas of the curriculum. Assessment of children’s learning is an ongoing observation. It monitors the children’s understanding, knowledge and skills by the class teacher. This assessment is then used to support and challenge the children in future planning. The children’s DT books record the progressive learning through photos, designs and evaluations. As designers, children will develop skills, take risks and to become more resourceful so they can use these attributes beyond school and into adulthood.

The DT curriculum overview for 2024-25: