Early Years

DT is introduced in Early Years through practical experiences. DT resources are left out for children to explore and develop their skills that they will need for Design Technology as they progress through the school.

Design Technology in Early Years is linked to the Early Leaning goal of Building with materials where the children are encouraged to Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function; Share their creations, explaining the process they have used; Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage 1, the children are introduced to the Design Technology Cycle as part of their DT lessons. They start to record their early ideas and consider the steps they need to take to construct/build their work. When work is complete the children start to verbally evaluate their work by talking about what is good about their design and what could be improved.

In food technology, Key Stage 1 start to think about where food comes from and seasonality. Using basic cooking skills, they start to make simple recipes.

Lower Key Stage 2

In Years 3 and 4, the children further develop their practical skills that have been gained in Key Stage 1, with more complexity being added to those skills as they progress through the school.

Children continue to work to the 'Design Technology Cycle' but start to thing about a products purpose and intended audience. The children are introduced to new way of designing products through computer aided design. They start to use peer and teacher feedback to inform the evaluation of their product and identify next steps.

Upper Key Stage 2

In Years 5 and 6, children continue to build on their skills. They develop their existing practical skills whilst developing new skills to build and make products using a wide variety of materials.

The children look at the audience and purpose in further depth by completing market research. During the design stage children are encouraged to use a range of methods such as computer aided design, 3D sketches and building prototypes. The evaluation stage uses peer and self-assessment in order to highlight the strengths of their product and areas for improvement.