West Leigh Infant School

Intent  
At West Leigh Infant School, children receive a design and technology curriculum which allows them to develop their skills and creativity through designing and making. Skills are taught progressively to ensure that all children are able to learn and practice in order to develop as they move through the school.  Evaluation is an integral part of the design process and allows children to adapt and improve their knowledge and skills. We aim to, wherever possible, link work to other disciplines such as History and Science. Children’s interests are captured through topics, ensuring that links are made in a cross curricular way, giving children motivation and meaning for their learning. Children will also learn basic food hygiene skills.

Implementation
Through a variety of creative and practical activities, we teach the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in a process of designing and making. The children design and create products that consider function and purpose and then evaluate their finished products against their design criteria.

We teach the National Curriculum, which is supported by a clear progression of skills and knowledge which are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately. When designing and making, the children are taught to:

Design: develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups.

Make: select from and use a wide range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks (for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing, as well as chopping and slicing) accurately.

Evaluate: evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work.

We assess what the children already know at the start of each unit and the skills, key learning and vocabulary are regularly reviewed. Pupils’ learning is recorded in a number of ways, including topic books and digital portfolios. The subject leads monitor progress through reviewing books and planning and talking with the children.

Impact
We ensure the children develop the creative, technical and practical skills and expertise needed in order to design and make prototypes and products for a wide range of users. The children are able to critique and evaluate their ideas and products, and the work of others. The children also understand food sources and the basic principles of nutrition and food hygiene, as well as experiencing cooking across all year groups. Through our lessons, the children learn to take risks, build their resilience and perseverance and develop a passion for Design and Technology that they can build upon further in KS2.