Achievements
At Ashleigh Primary our aim with DT is to provide children with knowledge, understanding and skills that prepare them for life beyond primary education and ultimately helps them to become resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Children at Ashleigh make real products or prototypes of real products designed to solve real problems in ways which are relevant to the children’s ages and stages of development. Children are encouraged to use their imagination and creativity but also to consider the needs of the product user be it themselves or another individual or group.
Children will learn that designing and making is an iterative process through which they will need to continually evaluate their product by testing their ideas and making improvements. They will also use these important critical thinking skills to critique existing products and the work of others.
Throughout their time at Ashleigh, children complete projects where they design and make: structures; mechanisms and mechanical systems; electrical systems including programming; textiles products and food products. These projects are organised in such a way that the skills developed are age and stage appropriate and build on prior learning in DT and other subjects.
The children use a wide range of technology at Ashleigh – iPads, BeeBots and laptops with various operating systems. This means that by the time they come to their KS2 Programming and Control units, they are familiar with programming technology through their computing lessons and are ready to use the Primary Crumbles to programme LEDs, motors and various switches within their products.
Use of Ashleigh Farm is encouraged to help children understand seasonality and where their food comes from within Cooking and Nutrition projects.
Through DT children will draw on and develop a broad range of knowledge from other subjects including English, maths, science, computing and art.
DT and STEM lessons, activities and challenges
https://www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk/engineering-at-home
https://www.theschoolrun.com/5-at-home-design-and-technology-projects-for-primary-children
https://www.stem.org.uk/home-learning/primary#D&T
https://www.jamesdysonfoundation.co.uk/resources/challenge-cards.html
https://designmuseum.org/whats-on/families/create-and-make/create-and-make-at-home#
Food activities and ideas
https://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/remote-learning/activities-and-ideas/
Coding Projects
