DT

We aim to deliver a knowledge-rich Design and Technology curriculum that enables a deep learning.

Hi, I’m Miss Hazell and I’m the DT Subject Leader at St Leonard’s. I am dedicated to helping create and deliver DT curriculum that will help our children go on to be creative innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs. We have looked in depth at what high-quality DT looks like and how to guide children to designing, building and evaluating products of the highest quality. I currently work in Early Years and love seeing children learn and develop the foundational skills they will need as they move into Year 1.

What do DT lessons look like at St Leonard’s?

We have chosen a scheme called ‘Kapow’ to help build our DT curriculum. Having conducted careful research, we found that this scheme offered the best combination of progressive knowledge building with really high-quality outcomes. Having considered the DT skills and knowledge taught in Foundation Stage, we have been able to use this as the building block for Year 1, enabling our youngest children to enjoy early success in the subject.

Our lessons are built around 3 key themes: mechanisms (sliders and levers), structures and food. As children re-visit each theme over the course of their journey through the school, they build on their knowledge and skills to design and create ever more complex outcomes. For example, in Foundation, the children begin to develop their fine motor skills by handling scissors. They then make Christmas cards with simple levers in Year 1, a moon buggy in Year 2, a pop-up book in Year 3 and so on. By the time they reach Year 6, the children have acquired enough skills and knowledge to design and cook a complicated dish, make a waistcoat and create an electronic steady-hand game!

How do we make sure every child succeeds? 

A key intent of our curriculum is to be inclusive, so our planning is carefully adapted to make sure it can be accessed by all of our children and they all have an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to design, make and evaluate.

We continually assess the children throughout our teaching and, if any are in danger of falling behind, we offer additional support. Furthermore, we assess at the end of each unit and address any misconceptions the children may have.

Cooking

We recognise that cooking is a vital life skill and are always looking for new and engaging ways to enrich this part of the curriculum. As a result, we have raised funds to design and build a new, bespoke 'Cookery Hive' for our children to work in. This incredible space is used to deliver the cooking element of the DT curriculum, but also in lots of other ways. For example, groups of children in EYFS go to the Cookery Hive each week to learn the basics of food and hygiene. Our PSA also uses this space to work with vulnerable families to develop their cooking skills and ability to create meals on a budget. It also used, in conjunction with our PTA, to broaden the children's knowledge of food from around the world.