Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.
Meet Declan DT.
Declan is part of our Curriculum Crew who is introduced at the start of each topic and lesson, providing a visual link to lessons and allows our children to focus on the skills needed in the upcoming tasks.
Declan is featured as part of our DT Pathway Journey - allowing the children to revisit and consolidate prior learning .
Aims
The national curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:
develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others
understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.
We made salt dough to use as a base for our Autumn gardens. We felt the texture change as more flour and more water was added. We used different tools to mark the dough and cut the foliage to make our gardens.
We looked at a picture of a hedgehog and discussed the different features that it had. We then talked about the type of materials that would be best suited to make spikes with. We chose twigs, lavender and rosemary.
We are able to use one-handed tools and equipment safely - we used knives to carefully cut the fruits that we chose for our fruit salad and made patterns and faces before enjoying our healthy snack.
We talked about what we could use for legs for our Supertato, then we cut out capes and attached the superhero masks to complete our models.
Reception
As part of our space topic we have been looking at rocket ships. We had a go at creating our own rockets using different materials.
Year 1
Windmills!
As part of our windmills topic, we researched their structure and their purpose. The children tested out materials and equipment to choose which would work best for their design.
Making our Smoothies!
We prepared and blended the ingredients ourselves to make our delicious healthy smoothies. We then tasted them and evaluated their look, smell and taste.
Smoothies!
Our D.T. topic this term is researching, designing and making smoothies!
We have started our topic by understanding what a smoothie is. We then looked into different fruits and vegetables and learned how to recognise if a food is a fruit or vegetable. We realised that if we could find seeds then the item was a fruit.
Next, we will be taste testing our fruits and vegetables to see which ones we want to include in our smoothie designs!
Year 2
In year 2 we have been looking at designing and creating our own healthy wraps. To begin with we completed a taste test session to decide what food we liked and disliked! Some of us were also brave and tried sriracha sauce, it was extremely hot! Following from this we chose our favourite foods that we would like to use in our healthy wraps. We thought about what we would need to include to make our wraps healthy such as protein, vegetables, diary and fats. We had lots of fun finally creating our wraps, we then taste tested them and rated them out of ten. They were delicious.
Year 3
We have been learning about eating seasonally and we used this knowledge to help us create our recipes for our pitta pizzas. We also learned all about food hygiene and safety in the kitchen. I'm sure you'll agree that they look delicious... and they tasted even better!
We have had a great time this Christmas researching, planning and making our tree decorations to sell at the Christmas Fayre.
This term we have been exploring eating seasonally and creating recipes for our pitta pizzas. We all agreed they were a lot of fun to make and even better to eat!
Year 4
This term we have designed and made our own working torches! We began by evaluating a range of existing torches to understand how they work and the different features. We then designed our own by applying our understanding of electrical circuits from our prior learning in Science. We used plastic bottles to form the casing of our torches and made a working circuit and switch to make our torch light up!
Year 5
Little Inventors Competition.
Following on from last years success with one of our inventions being chosen to be brought to life, we have entered the Little Inventors Competition. Our challenge has been to harness the power of movement to generate energy to design and create an invention to improve our everyday lives.
Some of our creative inventions!
Stuffed Toys Project.
This term our challenge in Year 5 is to design and make a stuffed toy. Firstly , we created a Mood Board collecting ideas for our designs. We then used our creativity and inspiration from the mood board to create are unique and original designs.
Mood Boards
Our Designs.
Turning our designs into reality.
Our Completed Stuffed Toys
Year 6
Pencil Cases
We have been practising different types of stitches in preparation for designing and making our very own pencil cases…
2022-2023
Nursery
We used different construction pieces and methods to make homes for the elves. We practised different arrangements of the construction pieces to adapt the shape and height of our models
Our topic of 'Hansel and Gretel' inspired us to make our own gingerbread houses, using different resources and media.
Our gingerbread village
We used photographs of different gingerbread houses to inspire our building designs
Reception
We have been building a bridge for the Gingerbread Man to save him from the fox.
We used blocks.....
We used cubes .....
We used Lego...
In Reception, we have been enjoying junk modelling. We used recycled materials to construct with a purpose in mind. First, we spoke about what we wanted to create and planned what objects/materials we thought would be best for our creations. We then used a range of materials and tools to construct our models, showing our creative and imaginative skills.
Year 1
In D.T. this term, we are researching, designing and making our own healthy smoothies!
We started by exploring and researching fruits and vegetables. We looked closely to see if they had seeds. If they did have seeds, we knew it was a fruit. Some of the fruits really surprised us and we learned that lots of people think some fruits are vegetables because of their taste!
We taste tested fruits and vegetables to decide what to include in our smoothies. We discussed which flavours would go well together and talked about what qualities each of the fruits and vegetables had (e.g. crunchy, sweet).
We designed our smoothies and we can't wait to finish our project by preparing the ingredients and making the smoothies ourselves!
Year 2
William Morris Inspired Pouches
We have been learning all about the life and work of William Morris this term and put our knowledge into practice when designing and creating our own felt pouches. We created motives to decorate our pouches inspired by nature (just like Morris) and sewed them together using embroidery thread. We thought about size, shape, fastening and colour combinations before creating our final designs. I'm sure you'll agree they are a work of art!
We have been making William Morris inspired pouches in 2BP
Healthy Wraps
In Design and Technology this half term we have been using our Scientific knowledge of healthy diets to design and create our very own healthy wraps. First we had a tasting session of different foods and sorted them into the food pyramid to help us make healthy choices. Then we designed a wrap and created it before the best bit - taste testing it! Finally we reflected on our learning and evaluated our wraps; thinking about any changes we would make and things that worked well.
Year 3
Year 3 have spent a lovely afternoon creating their designs for our Christmas baubles. We will be selling our baubles at the Christmas Fayre next week!
Year 4
Electrical Systems - The Making Stage
We used our plans to choose the correct materials, tools and techniques to make our Santa traps. We also considered how to ensure the electrical circuit would work and if we needed to add anything to make it more effective.
Electrical Systems - evaluating
In Year 4 we are designing and making our own Santa traps. We began by looking at previous traps which have been made and evaluating them. We made notes on what we thought were the strengths and what we would do differently on our own traps.
Year 5
Year 5 Christmas Bake-Off.
This term our DT Challenge is inspired by the Great British Bake-Off. We have be challenged to design and make three Christmas biscuits and packaging inn time for Christmas. This is us working hard on our fabulous designs.
Year 6
For our Christmas Fayre, we designed and created our very own Christmas plates. Take a look at some of our fabulous designs… they were a complete sell out!
2021-2022
Nursery
At Sea View the children in the Foundation Stage learn through first-hand experiences. They are encouraged to explore, observe, solve problems, think critically, make decisions and to talk about why they have made their decisions.
The children learn to construct with a purpose in mind, using a range of tools. Through this, the children will learn about planning and adapting initial ideas to make them better.
Constructing
Using different materials and tools
Creating beanstalks for Jasper to climb using a variety of materials including natural objects.
Reception
In Reception we safely use a range of small tools and explore a variety of materials and techniques. We experiment with colour, design, texture, form and function. We have the opportunity to explore how different materials can be combined to create new effects. We then share our creations, explaining the process we have used.
For our topic, ‘Come Outside’, we designed and made our own bird houses. We thought about what different materials we would need and what tools and techniques would help us the best. We also thought about how we could make our bird houses even better!
We designed and made our own mini beast hotels by combining junk modelling materials with natural materials.
We even explore designing and making in our outdoor environment!
Year One
For Red Nose Day we designed our very own Red Nose’s. We used Play Doh to shape our Red nose and then decorated using different colours and pipe cleaners.