Design Technology

Intention

At Ling Bob School, we believe that all pupils should have the opportunity to safely explore, develop and refine their Design Technology skills and natural talents to enable them to become the creative designers, problem-solvers and makers of the future. We want our children to acquire a wide understanding of vocabulary in reference to various styles and techniques for designing, making and evaluating , and understand how to use and apply these styles and techniques to create their own unique product with growing confidence and resilience. We encourage our children from Early Years through to Year 6 to explore DT using a range of tools, equipment and materials safely and competently in order to design, make and evaluate something to meet a specific need or purpose, as well as exposing them to the work of famous (and local) architects, buildings and designers to widen their cultural experiences and understanding. We understand and acknowledge how DT can play a vital role in giving children at our school a channel for self-expression which can in turn support their mental health and well-being. Furthermore, it gives those children who may struggle in core subjects a different platform and opportunity to shine. Often linked to science, maths, computing and art, Design Technology is a practical subject and can always be appropriately adapted for those children with SEND.

In Practice

At Ling Bob School, the DT projects we set our children are designed to engage, inspire and challenge pupils to create their own unique products based around a design brief that is relevant and gives the children a purposeful context. Based on the aims of the National Curriculum, DT is taught each half term — across an entire day — with cross-curricular links to a year group’s history or geography topic and may involve creating a healthy Greek salad (linked to the cooking and nutrition part of the curriculum), a volcano, a WW2 Anderson Shelter or even a Roman chariot.

When creating their own design, children are given the opportunity to look at and evaluate existing products and designs, consider designs from the past, and decide on how to improve them. Taking into account the design brief and aspects learnt from existing designs, children create their own initial designs, evaluate them and then pull all their ideas together for their final design. During this process, children may test different materials and techniques, create prototypes or use computer-aided software. Children are then taught a range of useful practical skills and techniques and apply these in making their final product as per their own design. When the product is complete, the children then evaluate against the design brief and share their findings with the class. This encourages our children to take pride and responsibility for their own work and helps them to build confidence and resilience in creating something of their own that meets a design brief and is fit for purpose.

STEM Education means educating children in four specific disciplines, namely, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (collectively shortened as STEM). At Ling Bob we are aiming to work collaboratively on STEM projects so our children receive a combined learning approach to all four disciplines—this will also help us to embed Design Technology more widely into our curriculum.

Outcome

When children leave Ling Bob J I & N School, they will be able to talk confidently using a range of Design Technology vocabulary about the design, make and evaluate process, the importance of having a purpose for a product and demonstrate a wide range of technical skills and techniques which they can develop further at high school.

Examples of DT models 2021-22

Here are some examples of recent DT projects from Y1 and Y2 (London), Y5 and Y6 (WW2 Anderson Shelters) linked to history.

Art and DT Showcase – Tuesday 15^th February 2022

On Tuesday 15^th February children and staff from across school came together to share and celebrate their work in art and design technology. They also had a go at making a piece of Kandinsky inspired art, and making a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows!

Learning Logs