Design and Technology
At Sandown Primary School, our Design and Technology lessons inspire pupils to become creative, confident, and innovative problem solvers. Children are encouraged to explore real and relevant challenges through a hands-on approach that involves researching, designing, making, and evaluating their ideas within a variety of real-life contexts. Working both independently and collaboratively, pupils draw on knowledge and skills from across the curriculum, developing qualities such as creativity, resilience, risk-taking, and resourcefulness. These skills are taught progressively throughout their school journey, allowing children to build securely on prior learning.
Throughout DT lessons, children will explore structures, mechanisms, electrical circuits, and components, as well as cooking and nutrition. Our lessons are carefully planned to make meaningful links with other subject areas, helping pupils see how their learning connects and applies beyond the classroom.
Click to see our full DT overviewhere.
At Sandown, we follow an enquiry-based, concept-led approach to learning. Pupils explore and evaluate existing products, generate design criteria, develop and communicate ideas through discussion and sketches, and create products using a range of materials, tools, and techniques. Children are encouraged to consider functionality and appearance before reflecting on their work, evaluating it against design criteria, and using feedback from others to make improvements.
DT in action – Key Stage 1
Reception – The children created their own peg dolls as part of their ‘Long Ago’ unit. The children compared toys from the past and present and discussed how many people would have created their own toys from a range of materials.
The children also made smoothies while exploring ‘Marvellous Machines’.
Year 1 – The children took part in outdoor learning to explore a range of shelters. The children built and explored ‘Shade and Shelter’.
Year 2 – The children explored ‘Remarkable Recipes’ and cooked both a Vegetable Casserole and an Eton Mess. It was delicious!
DT in action – Key Stage 2
Year 3 – cooking and designing a healthy diet. The children cooked a wide range of tacos in their ‘Cook Well, Eat Well’ unit.
Year 4 – The children explored packaging and evaluated and designed their own.
Year 5 – In Year 5, they grew vegetables and harvested them whilst exploring seasonality.
Year 6 – cooking and comparing homemade bread to shop-bought bread in their ‘Food for Life’ unit.
