Design Technology Intent

Our Design Technology curriculum aims to prepare children to participate in the development of today's rapidly changing world by giving them the skills needed to find solutions to problems presented to them.  Design and Technology at Studley Infants' encourages children to become creative problem solvers in contexts that are relevant to themselves and their learning.  This is by, for example, making recipes to keep themselves healthy, by designing and making cars to take them on a journey or by creating their own Christmas stockings.  Through the study of Design Technology, children will use their imagination to design based upon products already seen and evaluated.  They will use their well-developed practical skills, such as cutting, joining and chopping, as well as their gained knowledge, such as the strongest shape for structures, to create.  They will evaluate their made products based upon their fitness for purpose through testing.

Design Technology Implementation

Our DT curriculum begins by presenting a relevant problem to children based upon real life or topics they are learning about in school.  Children are then guided through a cycle of designing, making and evaluating until they have found a solution to this problem.  Children make their own choices along the way on aesthetics, materials and techniques after learning the necessary skills and having the hands-on experiences needed to make informed decisions.  

In Early Years, children are immersed in Design Technology daily through their construction, making and outdoor areas where they have a range of materials and media readily available for them to solve their own problems or those inspired by the adults.  This continues into our Year 1 class.

In KS1, children are taught four Design Technology topics per year, each focussed on different skills, through the themes of structures, mechanisms, textiles and food.  

The progression of skills and depth of each process should be seen across the key stages and as evidenced in curriculum folders and on Seesaw.