Design and Technology has seen some major changes to its curriculum this year and already, school is seeing the positive impact on the children's learning. 

Year 4 have been appreciating the generosity of the Greswold school community by using the Lego kindly donated by families to experiment with prototypes, eventually designing skyscrapers and buildings which house a n effective lighting system.

In recent weeks, year 2 have completed a vehicle making project around the mechanisms of axles and wheels based on their history topic of the Great Fire of London.  Year 5's Controllable Vehicles project best demonstrates the progressive nature of the D&T curriculum with children using their knowledge of axles to construct chassis which accommodate electrical components to power a pulley, allowing their vehicles to move.  This project also showcased how the curriculum encourages children to learn in different ways by pupils within each team learning a different skill and adopt a certain role generating a purposeful collaborative project.  

From there, year 6 are using their knowledge of pulleys and electrical components to design toys for younger pupils to play with.  They've surveyed Reception children to see what sort of things entertain them and used the feedback to design and make carousel products.  This approach epitomizes the approach of adding purpose and context to each D&T unit of work. 

With this in mind, watch out for muffins being designed and made by the older pupils to be sold at the PTA Summer Fayre in July!