Design & Technology
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Steve Jobs
At Hinchley Wood Primary School we feel it is vital to inspire pupils to use their innovative ideas, creativity and imagination to design and construct individualised products that each child is proud of. DT enables pupils to draw on skills from a variety of subjects including science, computing and art. Failure and risk-taking is an integral part of DT and once learnt, children become inventive, capable and enterprising pupils who are confident and determined to succeed. DT provides pupils an opportunity to become critical thinkers as they evaluate real products and see the purpose of design in the real world.
Our teaching process
As stated in the National Curriculum, ‘through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making’. At HWPS, we ensure we do this by following the principles for guiding and evaluating practise (as agreed by the National Curriculum Expert Group for DT).
Characteristics of a genuine D&T experience
| Who are they designing for? |
| Create products that perform a task/ function |
| Make products that work |
| Make their own design decisions |
| Create a variety of final products |
| Make believable, real and meaningful products in real life contexts |
Each of these principles is evident in every project that our pupils undertake. This ensures they get into good habits and are prepared for the wider world after they leave school. We follow a broadly similar process across the school for DT. This process will be carried through for EVERY DT module as it allows the pupils to become familiar with the process and structure of their learning.
As part of the D&T curriculum at HWPS all children will have the opportunity focus on 4 key areas:
| DT Focus |
| Products |
1 | Textiles
| EYFS | Dog cushions Worry Pom poms |
Year 1 | Weaving- Wall Hangings | ||
Year 2 | Indian Fabric: Sew and join fabrics using running stitch | ||
Year 3 | Bookmark | ||
Year 4 | Purse | ||
Year 5 | Pillow Case | ||
Year 6 | Class Mascot (stuffed toy) | ||
2 | Mechanisms | EYFS | Junk Modelling |
Year 1 | Moving Pictures | ||
Year 2 | Moving Creatures | ||
Year 3 | Pop up picture book | ||
Year 4 | Electric board game | ||
Year 5 | Moving toys | ||
Year 6 | Motorised vehicles | ||
3 | Construction
| EYFS | Cup and Ball Toy Split Pin Toy |
Year 1 | Rockets | ||
Year 2 | Egg box dragon | ||
Year 3 | Firework Packaging | ||
Year 4 | Moving creature in a box | ||
Year 5 | Viking boats | ||
Year 6 | Motorised vehicles / Stop motion | ||
4 | Food technology | EYFS | Fruit Kebabs |
Year 1 | Fruit Salad | ||
Year 2 | Great Fire of London cakes | ||
Year 3 | Caribbean Bread | ||
Year 4 | Fruit crumble | ||
Year 5 | Mexican corn cake | ||
Year 6 | Veggie pie |
DT SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE OVERVIEW