At All Saints’, we encourage a love for  creativeness. Our Design and Technology curriculum engages and inspires our children, through challenge and opportunities. Providing them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent, create and evaluate their own works of design and technology that they love and feel proud of. They learn how Design and Technology has shaped our history, and the world we live in.

The children have meaningful opportunities and are given the chance to work collaboratively as a team with their peers. Often they talk about their ideas and the processes they have used. We strongly encourage children to recognise the strength in their own work and in others’, being compassionate to themselves and others when things do not go as planned.

Design and technology is a practical and valuable subject. It enables children and young people to actively contribute to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of themselves and their community. Children work together to take risks and so become more resourceful, innovative and enterprising. Design and technology forms a large part of our Community Weeks, with the development of children’s skills and work being celebrated by the whole community in line with our value of Koinonia.

In our design and technology curriculum, we encourage children to analyse and evaluate all of their designs. Although they may come across challenges, we encourage children that mistakes are part of a designer’s journey! We encourage children to remember that we focus on the process and not just the end result.

In EYFS at All Saints we complete 3 big projects a year, these include food and nutrition in community week, a structure challenge in steam week and a summer term project. During this time children are shown real life products or designers linked to the project and are taught specific skills to enable them to be successful.

Through the exciting and enabling environment, children are able to access Design and technology through all areas of the early years curriculum. From building communication skills during team work, to using maths skills to apply shapes and measure their designs and to using their own ideas in expressive art and design. Putting the Characteristics of Effect Learning - playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically at the forefront of our early years curriculum.

Food and Nutrition

In Nursery the children make celebration chocolate sparklers, exploring the process of melting chocolate. Children also begin to develop their knowledge of food hygiene and kitchen safety.

The reception children make sandwiches for the kipper's birthday. They considered what kinds of food make good sandwich fillings. What are the tastiest combinations? And where does this food come from?

Structures & Engineers (STEMM week)

Nursery will design an animal shelter for farm animals. They look closely at the designs of Omlet, a company that designs animal shelters that consider how to keep the animal safe and provide all that they need.

Reception will further develop their knowledge of structure by building a greenhouse for their plants. They will look at a greenhouse in Kew to see what a plant needs from its structure.

Mechanisms

In Nursery, children will look at the designs of Jim Mariol, the designer of the Little tykes Cosy Coupe car. There will be given the opportunity to explore the materials they would like to use and explore how things work.

In Reception, Children will look at the work of author and designer Chuck Fischer. Children will then create there own pop-up books based upon a familiar story.

Food and Nutrition: In Autumn term year 1 will make fruit kebabs. They  will be taught where fruit and vegetables come from. Understanding seasonality of produce.

Textiles: In Spring term year 1 will study the work of famous textile designer Ekta Kaul.  They will use her inspiration and their knowledge of our local area to create a textiles map.                                     

Structures and Engineering: In STEAM week year 1 will focus on structure . Creating tall buildings using only newspaper and tape.                

Food and Nutrition: Year 2 will use their knowledge of the river wandle and its history with lavender and mint to create flavoured  bread.

Textiles: In Spring term year 2 will develop an understanding of the different ways to join fabrics. They use the work of Sophie Taeuber-Arp to design and create their own hand puppets.                       

Structures and Engineering: Year 2 will use their prior knowledge of structures To design and build a purposeful and functioning bridge that will allow a toy car to cross.

Food and Nutrition: Year 3 will use their geography knowledge, to bake muffins adding flavours and flora from the 7 continents.

Wheels and axles: In Spring term year 3 will look at the Circus Maximus and its importance as an ancient entertainment venue. They will select from a range of materials  to create a moving chariot.

Structures and Engineering: As part of STEAM week each class will design and build a chair using only newspapers. The chair will need to hold a soft toy.

Food and Nutrition: Year 4 will have the opportunity to experience cooking in a professional kitchen at pizza express. They will learn the importance of food hygiene and health and safety.

Wheels and axles: In spring term the children will build on their prior knowledge of chassis, wheels and axles to create motorised vehicles.

Structures and Engineering: As part of STEAM week year 4 will look at the structure Temple of Olympian Zeus. Selecting material based on the strength and durability they will design and build their own in interpretation of a temple.

Food and Nutrition: Year 5 will use the inspiration of Joseph Lee to create biscuits with locally sourced flavours.

Mechanisms: In spring 2 the children will create an automata toy to show the seasonal changes in weather.

Structures and Engineering: Year 5 will incorporate their history knowledge to design and build a strong shelter. The final product should be able to withstand force and have protection from the elements.

Food and Nutrition: Year 6 will use the influences of chef José Mendín to make an authentic South American Empanadas using seasonal vegetables.

Mechanisms: In Spring the children will make a toy with moving parts. They will decide the age range best suited for their toy and evaluate if it was fit for purpose.

Structures and Engineering: As part of STEAM week year 6 have the exciting opportunity to explore a “Dyson Design box”. They will be a design detective using research and developing design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products.