Intent

At Buryfields Infant School Design and Technology is taught as a creative and imaginative subject which inspires children to use all our Learning Powers, by 'having a go' and taking risks, to working in a team in order to solve real and relevant problems.

We aim to develop technical knowledge and skills, giving them the ability to design, make and evaluate a range of products. Design and Technology enables our children to ‘make mistakes,’ thereby building resilient learners.   

We have a high number of service pupils at Buryfields and value our links with the RAF base. We want the children to experience learning with the experts through their STEM ambassador.

Alongside the National Curriculum for Design and Technology, at Buryfields we have additional key learning intentions which are:

• To know how to use a saw, hammer, needle and needle threader safely and understand the purpose
• To build a vehicle using wheels and axles and design and make a picture using a slider mechanism
• Create a product, from binca or felt, using needlework and a range of stitching
• To know how to chop foods safely
• To experience real life knowledge from an expert relating to technology or nutrition

Implementation

D&T is theme specific and makes the most of cross-curricular links to other subjects to make it more meaningful for the children. We plan engaging and challenging projects, each taking half a term to complete, with a focus on the aquisition of subject knowledge and a progression of skills. Where relevant, additional opportunities such as cooking are planned in throughout the year.

The design, planning and evaluation skills are key to every topic within Design and Technology, these underpin every topic the children experience and the development of these skills are key points of achievement for the children. Critical thinking is developed over the children's time at Buryfields, which is crucial for developing creative, technical and practical expertise.

Within this subject area we link closely to STEAM and enable the use of ambassadors from within our community to expand the children's skills and knowledge. For example, we hold special days and workshops where the RAF are our experts in school.

From the very moment the children start at Buryfields, they are using real tools and creating imaginative, functional products. In EYFS they start exploring hammers and scissors progressing to saws in key stage one.

Teachers and the Design and Technology subject leader work closely together to ensure that SEND pupils' needs are considered for each project and plans are adapted where necessary.

Impact

Our assessment of children’s attainment and progress in Design and Technology is monitored through learning walks, pupil voice and teacher assessment. The children are able to talk about the process they used to create their product and are confident to talk about successes and failures. From pupil voice we know that children are enthusiastic and creative when making their products. They build on their previous learning and monitoring has shown that by the end of key stage one they have a bank of knowledge on how to use the tools named in our key learning intentions.