South Hill Primary School

We teach a broad and varied Design and Technology curriculum, at South Hill, which aims to develop skills and knowledge through the following key areas:

 

• Design: We want our pupils to generate ideas and to model and communicate these through talking and drawing. We want them to create templates and design products that are appealing, functional and purposeful.

• Make: We want pupils to select from a range of materials, tools and equipment and use these to perform practical tasks such as cutting, shaping, joining, sewing, kneading and finishing.

• Evaluate: We want pupils to be able to talk about existing products, as well as their finished product, to compare these against the design criteria and to consider the views of others to improve their work.

• Technical Knowledge: We want pupils to know and use subject specific vocabulary (such as levers, sliders, wheels, axels) and to deepen their knowledge of technical processes such as how structures can be made stronger/more stable.

 

Golden Threads

As part of our Design and Technology curriculum, we have carefully mapped out Golden Threads that weave in and out of our learning. These allow us to build on previous knowledge and skills and to ensure a progression of these year after year. Our Golden Threads for DT are:

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Our Curriculum 

In EYFS, through the Early Learning Goal ‘Expressive Arts and Design’, pupils are introduced to the building blocks of our Design and Technology curriculum. Through construction, pupils explore and build with a variety of materials such as Lego or wooden bricks, alongside developing their fine motor skills with scissors, paper and other media.

 

In Key Stage 1, pupils develop an understanding of the design, making and evaluating process when creating their own products. Examples of topics covered in KS1 include: Designing a building for a town, making a pop up toy and making a fruit/vegetable monster.

 

In Key Stage 2, pupils further embed the design, make and evaluate cycle when creating their own products. Examples of topics covered in KS1 include: building Anderson Shelters, making Torches, making a hydraulic bridge and cooking Viking bread.

 

By the end of Year 6, we want pupils to be able to have developed the ability to design and make a range of products (in cooking and nutrition, textiles, materials and construction) and to be confident in their technical knowledge of these areas and to be able to evaluate their own work, as well of as that of others.