Design & Technology at Cotsford
At Cotsford Primary all children will have the opportunity to enhance and expand their skills and techniques using a range of tools and materials. Using the Cornerstones curriculum, alongside the Kapow scheme of work, children learn about structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems and food & nutrition. They will research, creatively design, make and evaluate products using a range of tools, methods and materials. Children will be introduced to a range of designers and engineers including their work and will be able to develop their knowledge of the techniques used.
Please click on the link for Design Technology National Curriculum Information.
Summer 2
The children in EYFS used their scissor skills to make a jellyfish as part of their sea life work.
The children have learnt about wheels and axels. They looked at lots of different vehicles with wheels and sketched them. They then designed their own vehicle with wheels and axles and took part in a wacky race. They had a lot of fun!
Year 2 have worked extremely hard making their beach huts. The children made a miniature hut as they looked at the scoring technique using craft knives. They explored a range of joining techniques and looked at how to strengthen joins. From this the children designed their beach hut including the measurement for the main wooden frame. Measuring the wood seemed to be the easiest part. They were very surprised to find that they were using real saws to cut their wood. After being shown how to use them safely, everyone successfully cut all of their pieces of wood. Even though they had various sizes and angled cuts, they all managed to make a wooden cuboid frame. Gluing the joints using card triangles for additional strength, proved to be the most difficult! Decorating the outer part was where their creativity took over.
Year 2 also worked with Chef Sarah investigating and making healthy snacks, and looking at how food labels can inform our choices. They looked at a range of food and drinks that they could choose as alternatives.
The children have designed and made their own cushions. They used stencils to create our designs and chose suitable materials to make the cushions. They loved learning how to stitch in different ways where have tried blanket stitch, cross stitch and running stitch and now understand which style of stitching is best for different purposes.
The children have enjoyed designing and making their own fan boats. To do this, the children needed to use their knowledge of forces and electrical circuits from science, to make sure they created a boat that would float and move. They also tested various materials and decided which material would be most suitable and fit for purpose. After creating their boat, the children then evaluated their work.
Year 5 have had a fantastic with Chef Sarah, answering the question, What Could be Healthier? The children looked at recipes and the nutritional value of food and how to make healthy substitutions. Sarah said that they did an amazing job at making their own Spaghetti Bolognese. As you can see in the pictures below, the children also developed their cutting skills by learning how to cut an onion correctly. Finally, the children worked in groups to create a well-balanced healthy snack and they discussed the importance of a healthy diet.
As their final DT project, Year 6 were challenged to design and build a playground with a range of moving structures. This was a great opportunity to work in teams and to use the class text, The Jamie Drake Equation, to inspire the design. They recapped how objects need a balance between form and function and then enjoyed collaborative designing. Everyone showed amazing team work and respect when taking individual design and coming up with group ideas. The final product was brilliant and they were able to add some non-moving structures to increase the appeal of their playground!
As part of health week, we made two types of delicious humus – yum yum, during a workshop with Chartwells Catering.
Summer 1
Wow, what a fabulous creative half term the children in Early Years have had. The children have made animals which may be found on safari out of junk modelling materials as well as designing and making animal masks.
In the construction area, they have also designed and built castles to celebrate the King’s coronation and having read ‘The King’s Underpants’ they also designed a pair of pants for the King!
In Year 1, the children have tasted different vegetables and created a pasta pot including the vegetables that they liked the most through their cookery sessions with Chef Sarah.
The children in Year 4 have loved working with Chef Sarah again this half term! They focused their learning on food and nutrition, which resulted in some amazing food being created! They made healthy pizza, vegetable curry and stir fry! They were delicious!
The children have also enjoyed designing and creating a toy with a pneumatic system. They learned how compressed air can move parts, which is what they used to make their toy. The children developed their designing and creating skills through thumbnail sketches and exploded diagrams.
Spring 2
The children in Early Years made flowers as gifts for Mother’s Day. They used tissue paper and doilies to form the flower and used tape to attach the straw stalk. They also made cards carefully cutting a flower pot shape and using a fork to print flowers growing from the pot.
The children also continued to create their own models including space rockets, buildings, cars and castles. Their joining skills are improving all the time we are so impressed with the children’s models.
In Textiles the Year 1 children have loved becoming designers where they designed and created hand puppets. They looked at different ways to join their puppets including stapling, hot glue and stitching. They then used their puppets to tell each other stories.
The children have also enjoyed exploring different fruit through taste tests and creating fruit kebabs and fruit smoothies with Chef Sarah. The children were able to learn safe knife skills and basic hygiene in a kitchen for food preparation.
In Year 2, the children revisited textiles; using a template, children ensured that their pieces of fabric would be exactly the right size. They then used a simple running stitch to join the two pieces together before decorating the front of it according to their designs.
Year 3 have learned what a pavilion is, how they are designed, where they are situated, how and what they are used for. They used a design brief to plan the purpose for the pavilions and selected a range of materials to build them. The children then evaluated each other’s finished designs and spoke about what was liked about them and how they might be improved to be stronger and more stable structures.
This terms textiles project was really fun for Year 5. The children started by designing their own stuffed toy, making it as simple or as challenging as they liked. As you can see in the pictures below, they then made templates and used a blanket stitch to assemble their toy. Finally, the children added decorations to their stuffed toy and they were very proud of their final creations.
DT was so tasty! For their final cooking topic, Year 6 designed, made and ate a three-course meal. They explored a range of options, tasting and evaluating as they went, before creating their final menu and writing up a complete recipe. Mrs Hunter and Mrs Cook loved trying the options too!
Spring 1
The children made some excellent rockets and learnt about the first moon landing. They then compared light and dark and started to talk about day and night in Early Years.
Eating like an Egyptian is what Year 3 have been doing in D & T this half term. The children have had an amazing time with Chef Sarah tasting Egyptian food and learning what foods can be grown in the country. They have designed recipes for soups, dips and complimented these by making Egyptian bread and biscuits.
Year 4 have been lucky enough to enjoy two D&T topics this half term. They have enjoyed cookery with Sarah, where they have learned about the types of things that the Romans would have eaten. They have made soups, bread, fruit salads and stir fry.
The children have also enjoyed using their scientific knowledge to create their own working torch. They first created a working circuit. They then used a plastic bottle, tin foil and other materials to make the torch. The children even made their own working switch!
What a fantastic time Year 6 have had with DT this half term. They designed their own automata toy and made every part, from the measuring, sawing and making the wooden frames to drilling holes for the handle; experimenting with different cams to create movement and designing the rest of the structure. The children worked to fulfil a design brief, so looked at the importance of a brief and how these are used by designers of every product. Don’t their automata toys look fantastic?
Autumn 2
The children have been introduced to the cello tape dispenser! They have had lots of fun, sticking, joining and repairing their creations including their own stables from the Christmas Story.
The children have also completed some wonderful star constellations using string, black card and a hole punch. Mrs Laverick was so very proud of their work.
Year 1 have had fabulous half-term designing, decorating and building windmills. Throughout the topic children built their understanding of what a windmill is, what it looks like and the different types that can be found, to help identify key features, which helped them when designing and making their own.
Year 2 loved exploring moving parts. They had fun investigating toys and discussing how the parts move. From this, they were introduced to linkages and levers. They had to work as a group to use construction slats, screws and bolts to join two pieces together and then make the part move. They extended this to making 3 to 4 moving parts. Team work definitely made the dream work! Everyone managed to use split pins as a linkage. Then they created 2 designs for a sea monster and asked their peers to choose their favourite. Finally, they made the monster with the most votes and evaluated their work.
Year 3 are engineers! They have looked at and investigated different types of bridges and can name some types. They made a truss bridge with spaghetti and learned why it is important to reinforce a structure. They had a lot of fun using the tools to cut the wood when making their own wooden bridge.
Year 6 have been lucky enough to complete four different DT projects this half term! The first has been in cookery with Chef Sarah. She has helped the children to develop a product for enterprise. They started by researching existing chocolate products and decided to make chocolate bark. Next, they taste tested different flavour combinations (Mrs Hunter really enjoyed this part!) and then costed their final product to make sure they charged the right amount. The children spent two weeks making both the bark and packaging, before combining these together for sale as a part of our enterprise sale.
The second DT project linked with the children’s science unit on electricity in which they designed and made their own steady-hand game. A Christmas theme was followed and after designing the bases, the children started on creating the electronics of the game. They used their knowledge of circuits to create electrics which will either make a buzzer or light turn on to show the game player has failed the steady hand game! Everyone really enjoyed this and there was lots of fun had playing them the final products.
In project three, the children revisited their learning in art/DT when making their Christmas tree decorations. These were fantastic wooden dreamcatchers, where they got to use our sewing skills from Year 5. They started by designing the decoration for a colourful wooden bases and then combined sewing and maths to make the repeating pattern of yearn. They looked wonderful on the Christmas tree!
Our final DT project was designing and making our second enterprise product. The children decided to make a functional item after learning about form and function in their DT lessons. They found a pattern for some beautiful bracelets and adapted these for a Christmas theme. They costed the product before ordering the resources and making their final product. They were able to use pilers to join the charms to the links, which was really fiddly, but very fun! The bracelets proved to be very popular and the children were over the moon with how they turned out.
Revisiting some of this themes and skills we have developed this term and in previous year groups, each class had a designated decoration to make for the Christmas tree. Skills practised included cutting, sticking, weaving, sewing, joining and use of moving parts. There were also links to art with the dream catchers created by Year 6. The tree looked fantastic!
Autumn 1
The children in EY have used lots of recycled materials to construct their own ideas. They have made lots of homes for Mr Wiggle and Mr Waggle. They needed to think about the size of the home and think about proportion and size, making sure it looked just right!
In preparation for Halloween, they have also been practising their cutting skills to create some bats to fly around the classroom, they are so cute!
What fun Year 3 have had in DT this half term! They have learned that fruits are seasonal and are grown in different countries at different times so we can buy them all year round. They have tasted different fruits and chosen the ones they prefer to put into their own fruit crumble. They can now cut fruits safely using a bridge cut technique and can mix ingredients to make a crumble.
Year 5 also had a fantastic half term with chef, Sarah! It started with the children tasting Viking porridge and then they designed and created their own Viking soup. It smelt delicious! As you can see in the pictures below, the children practised their chopping skills and most importantly they practised good food hygiene. Finally, they cooked their own Viking breads and churned their own butter.
The children also worked together to construct Viking longships (made out of paper) with the aim of having them stand unaided. Inspired by their Viking day, they also researched the weaponry of the time, and learned about the terrible damage that could be inflicted. The children looked at photographs, artefacts and watched film footage of the weaponry before making their replica shield designs. After the construction of the shields, they carefully evaluated their end product making suggestions of how they could improve it, while recognising what aspects worked successfully.
