Design Technology at Grove

 

Please click on the below links to discover what the children are learning this term.

Summer

Year 2 - To design, make and evaluate a bean salad and a wholemeal bread roll

Year 3 - To design, make and evaluate a healthy soup and a savoury scone

Year 5 - To design, make and evaluate a moving message

Year 6 - To design, make and evaluate a curry and a roti

Spring

Year 2 - Design, make and evaluate a felt flower brooch

Year 4 - Design, make and evaluate a pizza with a wholemeal base and a side salad

Year 5 - Design, make and evaluate a homemade tomato sauce and homemade gnocchi

Year 5 

This half term, pupils in year 5 go busy in the kitchen making homemade gnocchi. They combined eggs and flour into a dough and using rolling and stretching techniques to shape the dough. Pupils boiled the gnocchi until it was soft and light. They also made a tomato sauce, using their bridge and claw cutting techniques to prepare the vegetables. Have a look at some of their amazing skills below.
  

 

Nursery

In nursery this term, we have been exploring different materials like sandpaper, rubber and plactic to make a bed for the three bears and a boat for the Gingerbread man. We have joined our materials together using Cellotape and glue. We have also been practising our mixing pouring skills when making our very own gingerbread men. Have a look at how much fun we had below!

 

Reception
This term, we have been using our senses to explore different characteristics. Using our small motor skills we used our sense of touch to thread needles and make models using junk materials. We have also been making our own dens in out outdoor area and thinking about how to make them even better. Here are some examples below.

 

Year 1
Our class bears needed some strong chairs to sit on so we have been trying very hard to make the perfect one. We looked at some freestanding structures around school to investigate how their parts were joined together. Then we had a go at building out own walls and towers and thinking about how to make them stronger by changing the brick pattern or making the base wider, heavier or by adding buttresses. We used different tapes and glues to join paper and card to make our own freestanding chair for our bear.

 

 

 Year 2
Year 2 had a go at designing and making a felt flower brooch. Pupils used a template or pattern and cut their fabric piece to size. They then joined their material using a running stitch. Pupils have also explored other methods of joining materials such as glue, stapling and pinning and they can confidently talk about the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Here are some of their wonderful designs.

 

 

 

Year 3
In year 3, we have been making our own greetings cards with moving parts. We have investigated how different lever and linkage systems work. Using fixed and loose pivots, we explored how we can move them to alter the amount of movement on our mechanism. In order to make our greetings cards appealing, we used a variety of finishing materials suitable to our user. You can see our working wall and some examples of finished cards below.

 

 

 

 

Year 4

Year 4 also had a visit the kitchen to make pizza with a wholemeal base. Pupils mixed their ingredients together and had to knead their dough before stretching and pressing it to make the pizza base. They learned to sauté vegetables to soften them before adding as toppings to their pizza. Have a look at their delicious recipe below.

 

 

 

 

Year 6
This term in tear 6, we have developed our knowledge of circuits and made an alarm system to protect a vehicle. We explored a variety of switches to understand how the operate before choosing the most suitable for our product. We know that an alarm system has four parts: an input e.g. a switch, pressure or motion sensor; a process or electrical circuit; an output e.g a siren or flashing light and feedback where the siren or flashing light is telling me that something has happened. Our previous knowledge of shell and frame structures helped us to make our vehicle and finally we strengthened our structure using laminating, ribbing, corrugating or triangulation. You can see some of our vehicles, alarm systems  and evaluations below. 

 

 

Autumn 2023

Year 4 - Design, make and evaluate a box to contain a special keepsake

Year 6 - Design, make and evaluate a fairground ride using pulleys and gears

Nursery 

Nursery pupils have developed their DT skills by first learning to name a range of materials in both the indoor and outdoor environments. They have developed their physical skills to help plant bulbs, create leaf pictures and create clay and stick hedgehogs.

Reception

Autumn 2 has seen the pupils develop their collaborative skills in order to plan and create a themed role play. The children developed their understanding of democracy by voting for the role play theme. They used a range of materials to create a post office and a doctor's surgery. The role play offered opportunities to develop communication and writing skills.

Year 1 

Year 1 have been designing, making and evaluating a moving storyboard to tell a story to the class. They used their knowledge of movement to create a simple slider  or a lever with a pivot. They explored different ways of joining materials, including using paper fasteners, tape and glue. Have a look at their fantastic skills below.

 

 

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Year 2

Year 2 have been designing, making and evaluating a small-wheeled trolley that will carry tools around school. They explored new movements using wheels and axels and can distinguish between fixed and free moving axels. Pupils used different materials like pipe cleaners, plastic tubing and foam stoppers to find the best axel holder for their trolley.

 

 

Year 3

Year 3 completed a textiles project in the Autumn term. They now know 2 stitches- a running stitch and an over-sew stitch. Pupils learned the importance of having a seam allowance on their product and explored a range of fastening techniques like buttons, zips and Velcro. Pupils used a 2D piece of fabric to make their 3D fossil bag.

 

 

Year 4

Pupils in year 4 put their design skills to use to make a keepsake box. They created and made a net for their product and cut windows into their product. Pupils were able to strengthen their box by using different techniques like laminating, corrugating and ribbing. This helped to stiffen and strengthen their sheet materials. Pupils also learned how to score card so that they could fold their 2D net into a 3D box.

 

Year 5 

Year 5 learned lots of new skills and explored using some small hand tools like a junior hacksaw, a hand drill and a bench hook. They measured, cut and joined small pieces of wood to make a model bird hide. Pupils were able to strengthen their model by using triangulation.

 

Year 6

This term, year 6 used electronics to help make a working fairground ride. They explored a range of switches before choosing the best fit for their product. Pupils had to use different size pulleys to support the speed and direction of rotation in their fairground ride. The ride needed a working circuit to operate it. Pupils learned that the size of the driver gear affects the speed fo the follower gear.

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