Design and Technology at St. Leonard's

Design and Technology at our school is an inspiring and practical subject where pupils are taught and encouraged to use their imagination to design and make products to solve real life problems. We encourage our children to take risks, be creative and innovative while developing their growing knowledge and skills. The products the children make in our school are for a purpose, giving a real context to their work. 

Design and Technology in Action

DT in our school begins in the Early Years, where it's woven through all terms' activities within different areas of the curriculum: Communication and Language; Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Understanding the World; Physical Development and Expressive Arts and Design.

All of the children in our school complete three set DT projects a year, that have been carefully mapped out to ensure the development of the children's skills, knowledge and understanding. Each project will centre around one of the key disciplines below:

Each project builds on previous skills, tools and materials to extend and develop knowledge and understanding of DT and its application to the wider world. Our projects have been chosen to link in with other areas of our curriculum that the children will be learning at the time - adding to the purpose of their learning. The children begin by carrying out investigative and evaluative activities, moving to focused tasks to practise the skills required and they then use the knowledge and skills aquired to carry out their own design, make and evaluate assignment. 

Below you will find our long-term planning for DT, where you'll be able to see the projects your children will be carrying out each year. Please note, that our curriculum runs on a two-year cycle: Cycle A and Cycle B. 

DT Priorities for 2025-2027

Over the next two years in design and technology, we are working on the following targets within school:

- To develop the quality of the recording of work in design and technology.

- To introduce end points and an assessment programme for design technology.

- To raise the profile of design technology within school. 

If you would like any further information about design and technology at St. Leonard's, please contact Mrs Cooke, who leads the subject in our school. 

office@st-leonards-wigginton.staffs.sch.uk

How to support your child's interest and learning in design and technology at home:

• Lots of DT resources: Create a designated area or box filled with recycled materials (junk modeling), fabrics, glue, and tape to encourage spontaneous building and designing.
• Cooking and Nutrition: Involve children in preparing meals, teaching them to follow recipes, use tools safely, and understand where food comes from.
• Practical Engineering Tasks: Set challenges like building the tallest tower with Lego, creating a sturdy shelter for a toy, or making a moving toy using cams.
• Encourage Evaluation: Ask open-ended questions about their creations: What is great about it? How could you make it better?
• Take Things Apart: Safely deconstruct old toys or gadgets to understand their components and how they function.
• Explore Real-World Design: Look at household products and discuss why they were designed that way and what materials were used.
• Use Online Resources: The STEM website is great for fun projects that have elements of design and technology within them. Follow the link to explore this further: STEM Learning