Design Technology

Welcome to our Design and Technology Page

At St Matthew’s, the Design and technology scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to be innovative and creative thinkers who have an appreciation for the product design cycle through ideation, creation, and evaluation. We want pupils to develop the confidence to take risks, through drafting design concepts, modelling, and testing and to be reflective learners who evaluate their work and the work of others. Through our scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of the impact of design and technology on our lives and encourage pupils to become resourceful, enterprising citizens who will have the skills to contribute to future design advancements.

Our Design and technology scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum and the aims also align with those in the National curriculum. EYFS (Reception) units provide opportunities for pupils to work towards the Development matters statements and the Early Learning Goals.

What we learn:

	Year 1	Year 2
Autumn	Structures/Mechanisms Constructing a windmill: Designing, decorating and building a windmill, developing an understanding of different types of windmill, how they work and their key features. Looking at examples of windmills and exploring the functions that they carry out.	Structures Baby bear's chair : Using the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears as inspiration, pupils help Baby Bear by making him a brand new chair, exploring different shapes and materials. When designing the chair, they consider his needs and what he likes.
Spring	Textiles Puppets: Exploring different ways of joining fabrics before creating hand puppets based upon characters from a well-known fairy tale. Developing technical skills of cutting, gluing, stapling and pinning.	Mechanisms Making a moving monster: Learning the terms: pivot, lever and linkage, pupils then design a monster that will move using a linkage mechanism. Pupils practise making linkages and experiment with various materials to bring their monsters to life.
Summer	Cooking and Nutrition Smoothies: Handling and exploring fruits and vegetables and learning how to identify a fruit. Undertaking taste tests to identify ingredients for a smoothie they make, and designing and creating packaging for their smoothie.	Cooking and Nutrition Balanced diet: Exploring and learning what forms a balanced diet, pupils taste test ingredient combinations from different food groups to inform a wrap design of their choice which will include a healthy mix of protein, vegetables and dairy.

	Year 3	Year 4
Autumn	Cooking and Nutrition Eating seasonally: Discovering when and where fruits and vegetables are grown and learning about seasonality in the UK. Pupils respond to a brief to design a seasonal food tart using ingredients harvested in the UK in May and June.	Structures Pavilions: Exploring pavilion structures, learning what they are used for and investigating how to create strong and stable structures before designing and creating their own pavilions, complete with cladding.
Spring	Digital World Wearable technology: Designing, coding and promoting a piece of wearable technology to use in low light conditions, developing their understanding of programming to monitor and control products to solve a design scenario.	Mechanisms Making a slingshot car: Using lollipop sticks, wheels, dowels and straws to create a moving car. Pupils build a car chassis and design the body of the car, giving consideration to how the shape will affect the car’s air resistance. They then construct and test their cars.
Summer	Structures Constructing a castle: Learning about the features of a castle, pupils design and make one of their own. Using configurations of handmade nets and recycled materials to make towers and turrets and constructing a stable base.	Electrical System Torches: Applying their scientific understanding of electrical circuits, pupils design and create a torch made from recycled and reclaimed materials and objects. They then evaluate their products against a set design criteria.

	Year 5	Year 6
Autumn	Electrical Systems Doodlers: Further exploring series circuits and introducing motors. Pupils investigate existing products and use their problem-solving skills to establish how they think the products have been constructed, before then creating their own doodler.	Textiles Waistcoats: Selecting fabrics, using templates, pinning, decorating and stitching materials together to create a waistcoat.
Spring	Mechanical Systems Making a pop-up book: Creating a four-page pop-up story book design, incorporating a range of functional mechanisms that use levers, sliders, layers and spacers to give the illusion of movement through interaction.	Structures Playgrounds: Designing and creating a model for a new playground featuring five apparatus, made from three different structures. Using a footprint as the base, practising visualising objects in plan view and including natural features within their designs.
Summer	Cooking and Nutrition Developing a recipe: Researching and modifying a traditional bolognese sauce recipe to improve the nutritional value before then cooking an adapted version and creating packaging that fits a given design criteria. Learning where beef comes from.	Digital World Navigating the world Programming a navigation tool to produce a multifunctional device for trekkers. Combining 3D virtual objects to form a complete product concept in 3D computer-aided design modelling software.

Important Vocabulary and Knowledge Organisers

At the start of each unit children are given the key vocabulary they will need for the unit. They are also given a knowledge organiser which highlights key information and important facts. Please ask your child's teacher if you would like a copy to look at together with your child.