Design &Technology
Our DT Curriculum
Design and technology (DT) at SASM helps children at to be ‘the best that we can be’.
At our school we consider foundation subjects such as DT as important as English and maths, as our aim is for the children to learn and excel at everything they do. Our children are exposed to a wide variety of tasks including cookery, sewing and making. A number of our topics have links with other subjects. For example in Year 4 children design and make a lightbox theatre where they need to apply the knowledge gained on the science topic of electricity. Furthermore, the children then perform their own play to Year 3, thus showing off the knowledge of writing plays that is covered in English.
We are extremely lucky to have our own DT cooking suite where all children get an opportunity to cook, both savoury and sweet dishes through the year as we follow the governments Healthy Baking Programme.
Year 3 have the opportunity to bake cheese shortbread and fruit muffins
Year 4 have the opportunity to bake cheese straws and apple crumble
Year 5 have the opportunity to bake ratatouille and carrot loaf
Year 6 have the opportunity to bake potato pie and banana loaf
We would encourage you to try these recipes with your children at home. Please allow them to set up as well as wash and tidy up as these are critical skills that need to be encouraged.
SASM also run a ‘Let’s Get Cooking’ after-school club that is open to children in Years 5 and 6. Here the children cook a variety of savoury and sweet dishes.
During your child’s time at SASM he/she will have the opportunity focus on 5 key areas
We would encourage you to speak to your child to gain his/her views and to determine if there is any support he/she needs to make sure his product is progressing as he/she is aiming for.
Our teaching process
As stated in the national curriculum, ‘through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making’. At SASM we ensure we do this by following the principles for guiding and evaluating practise (as agreed by the National Curriculum Expert Group for DT)
Characteristics of a SASM’s genuine D&T experience
User - Who are they designing for?
Purpose - Create products that perform a task/ function
Functionality - Make products that work
Design decisions - Make their own designs
Innovation - Create a variety of final products
Authenticity - Make believable, real and meaningful products in real life contexts
Each of these principles is evident in every project that our pupils undertake. This ensures they get into good habits and are prepared for the wider world after they leave school. We follow a broadly similar process across the school for DT which includes:
We always welcome parent/carer support during our DT lessons and if you are interested in helping, please contact the school office or your child’s class teacher to find out how you can help.
Picture Gallery:
Examples of DT in Year 3: Sandwich Making
