Design & Technology
Design and Technology at Bishopthorpe Infant School
Design and Technology - Nicola Hone
At Bishopthorpe Infant School, we aim to enable our children to feel confident when using design and technology methods and processes. Design and Technology is a practical subject in which pupils have the experience of designing, making and evaluating products. Design and Technology encourages children to think about products in the world around them and question how and why things work the way they do. Through Design and Technology, our children become more focused on what makes a successful product and more imaginative when thinking about how a product could be made or improved.
The learning opportunities, technical vocabulary and skills progression for each year group ensures progression and repetition in terms of embedding key learning, knowledge and skills.
We aim to achieve this by:
- Teaching four DT topics a year, focusing on :construction/structures, mechanisms, food & nutrition and textiles;
- Encouraging confidence and perseverance whilst nurturing a sense of pride and enjoyment in their work;
- Learning about and exploring a range of materials, techniques, tools and technical methods such as: levers, sliders, sewing and joining;
- Providing opportunities for all children to practise skills and techniques in continuous provision;
- Linking DT to other curriculum areas through our whole school three year rolling programme. E.g. looking at mechanisms (wheels & axles) to design and make a vehicle that can move during our ‘Hop On Board’ topic;
- Developing an understanding of the designing and making process and the need to evaluate existing ideas and products;
- Encouraging the children to talk about both their own and pre-existing products when evaluating;
- Providing an environment in which children can work safely and be taught how to use certain tools correctly; and
- Developing DT vocabulary through use of common words and phrases relating to topics.
Christmas Enterprise Week
Every year the children take part in a Christmas Enterprise Week where each class designs and makes a product before selling them to parents. This year we raised over £500! Thank you to everyone who spent so generously. The children have already had lots of ideas about what they would like to spend their profits on.
Clubs
We are very lucky to have Miss Addy and Miss Ray who each run clubs supporting the Design Technology curriculum. Each term a different year group is given the opportunity to take part in an Art and Craft Club run by Miss Addy. This is a super opportunity to explore different techniques and learn new skills. Miss Ray runs a Health and Well-Being club which often gives the children opportunities to learn about healthy eating as well as preparing and cooking food. If you would like your child to take part, please keep a look out the letter which will be sent home a few weeks before the club is due to start.