Design and Technology Intent Statement
At Dereham Church Of England Infant and Nursery Academy, we want the children to understand the role of a craftsman and commit themselves to the duty of a designer. It is important for all members of our school community to understand the differing complexities that DT brings to our curriculum and that making purposeful and appealing products is the main aim. We know that DT learning draws on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.
Children are taught the four key steps to creation, these being design, create, test and evaluate. Within this set of steps children are encouraged to discuss the process of creation, as well as making adaptations and changes to their outcomes where required with conscientious thought. It is positively promoted within our school that an unsuccessful product does not mean failure.
Within this diverse subject children are taught and reminded of our school values with particular emphasis on resilience and perseverance whilst working collaboratively and independently through regular reflection of our growth mindset ethos.
Children are encouraged to take risks and venture into the unknown of purposeful product making. Children are introduced to the basic skills of cutting and application early into their journey at our school, which allows our older children to think more in depth about the aims of their products, and resolutions that may be needed in order to step into the realm of success.
Within our DT curriculum we cover a range of cookery skills, offering our children the opportunities to work alongside external providers as well as creating tasty items within our classroom settings. Children are taught a variety of expertise from rolling, to kneading, weighing to reading and responding to recipes.
Implementation:
At Dereham Church Of England Infant and Nursery Academy DT is taught half termly, for a minimum of three weeks. We understand that to fully immerse oneself in the process of being a designer then time must be given for this. Time is spent developing own products using the DT steps-looking at already existing products, to designing, making, testing and finally evaluating. By devoting time to the process, it encourages children to be realists, it encourages them to fully understand the role they are performing. It encourages children to build resilience and provides opportunities in between sessions to further edit and change things in their minds before the next lesson.
Food and Nutrition is taught throughout all years at Dereham Church Of England Infant and Nursery Academy, it may be delivered as part of snack time discussions, healthy eating promotion and providing opportunities to talk about favourite foods. There is also a time within the year for children to discover where their food comes from- including fruits, vegetables and meats. Children will experience making and creating food to take home and share with their families.
Our curriculum is ever evolving and we aim to connect areas where and when appropriate. For example in Year 1, Autumn 1 children will learn about plants and growing in Science, they will then grow herbs to use to make coleslaw in Food and Nutrition.
Impact:
By the end of their time at Dereham Church Of England Infant and Nursery Academy we want our children to understand that Design and Technology is a process.
We want children to develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
We aim for children to understand that things will not be built and created instantly but overtime. Children will be able to critique and evaluate products of their own and their peers in a constructive way, ensuring that children have the resilience to take on board the feedback they are provided with and use these skills throughout all areas of their future leaning and to guide them into their adult life.
