Intent

Design Technology at Grange Infant School is taught in a way that is engaging and challenging to the children, often beginning with a real life challenge.
This may link to a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) project. Design Technology focuses on practical, hands on learning, and learning by experimentation.
Pupils are taught the specific skills needed and are then able to apply these within the cycle of research, design, make and evaluate.

Implementation

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, the free flow of child initiated learning promotes learning by play and exploration.
The pupils have access to a wide range of resources both inside and outside, to develop the wide range of
skills essential for Design Technology. These include building, collaborating and continually revising and adapting.
Pupils are given rich and varied opportunities to improve their fine motor skills to enable them to be competent in drawing, cutting, joining
and using simple tools. Pupils learn to persevere if at first they don’t succeed.

STEM projects at an appropriate level are used for more focused Design Technology projects
Year 1 and 2 use termly STEM projects as a means of delivering the Design Technology curriculum. These are linked to other curriculum
areas, as part of a topic. Pupils learn to look at a range of designed products critically, understanding why they are made in a certain way.
Pupils are often given the opportunity to work collaboratively, learning to communicate and compromise as part of a team. They are allowed to
make decisions, experience difficulties, and encouraged to persevere in finding a solution, building their resilience and growth mindset.
Design Technology projects sometimes use the school’s rich outside environment, for example when designing minibeast homes.

Food technology in all year groups focuses on making healthy choices, making decisions involving choice of ingredients used, and understanding where food comes from.
All classes have opportunities to grow their own food in our outside gardens, and enjoy harvesting and eating it.

Impact

• Pupils have a ‘can do’ approach to problem solving using real life situations.
They have an enquiring mind, questioning how things are built and designed the way they
are. They confidently bring skills learnt in other areas of the curriculum, and their
wider knowledge, together in their Design Technology work.