Design & Technology

At Netherton Infant and Nursery School we aim to teach Design and Technology in a fun, practical and creative way. From Nursery through to Year 2 children will learn skills and acquire subject knowledge which will enable them to become designers, makers, inventors and problem solvers.

Children will learn how to communicate in a team and be imaginative; how to take risks and be resourceful; how to evaluate and test their ideas and products and be resilient.

Children’s interests are captured through topic based learning, ensuring that cross curricular links are made, particularly with Science, Art and Maths.

In Nursery and Reception, Design and Technology is embedded across our curriculum but can be found specifically within the Expressive Arts and Design area of the Foundation Stage Framework. Children will have opportunities to work with a variety of tools, materials, construction kits, junk modelling, malleable materials, food and natural and found objects. Sometimes following their own interests and sometimes through direct teaching children will learn to be confident, independent learners who take pride in their achievements.

In Year 1 and Year 2 children will use a range of tools, materials and processes to design and make structures, mechanisms and levers and work with textiles. The skills learned in the Foundation Stage will be built upon and children will design and make products for a specific purpose, such as a moving picture, a stable structure or a fabric bird. The children will be taught about where our food comes from, about basic nutrition and how to prepare and assemble healthy food. Children will learn to be self-motivated decision makers, critical thinkers and practical problem solvers.