Design and Technology at The Gattons

Intent

At The Gattons Infant School, our vision is to give children a curriculum which encourages them to use their natural ability to investigate, invent and make.  We encourage their creativity to experiment, take risks and explore designing and making. We want to equip children with skills that they can independently apply to end projects and take ownership of their outcomes with a range of materials. Additionally, they will develop the life skills and gain knowledge associated with healthy living, food, nutrition and cookery. We want to instil a love of designing, creating and evaluating their own and others work.

Implementation

We do this through specific DT lessons where we teach skills, knowledge and key vocabulary, as well as through ‘Discovery Time’ (where children across the whole school have the opportunity to explore their own, self-led, learning choices).  We encourage the children to use their emotional literacy to become resilient designers who adapt, persevere and support each other when creating their designs. We hold workshops where parents and carers support children with their projects. In Year 2 children can join cooking club. We respect the right to be safe and cared for in Design and Technology by ensuring we are taught the skills of using tools correctly when we are making our products.