Design and Technology

Design and Technology at Firthmoor Primary School

At Firthmoor Primary School, Design and Technology is taught following objectives from the National Curriculum framework and is covered through a project based approach. We aim for the children to develop their subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as Mathematics, Science, Engineering, Computing and Art.

Throughout each project, our children are encouraged to consider the user, the purpose and how their products will function in some way. We aim to inspire the children and encourage them to be creative, innovative, be willing to take risks and feel reassured when they need to change something. Throughout projects, the children are encouraged to use their design criteria to make purposeful design decisions that may change throughout a project. We aim for our children to develop different skills that will help them produce genuine design and technology products that are individual to each child. When designing and evaluating, we encourage our children to communicate their thoughts and ideas, using appropriate vocabulary, by talking to their peers, their teachers and recording their thoughts in their sketch books. Children will further their knowledge about the subject through Topic Text sessions during projects which are often linked to the Design and Technology topics being covered.

Lainey The Little Inventor

January 2020

From 1200 entries all over the North East, only 15 inventions were selected; Lainey was one of the 15!

A huge congratulations and what a fabulous achievement!

On Tuesday (28^th January) Lainey celebrated with the other 14 winners at Preston Park Museum. She met the Chief Executor of Little Inventors and the Mayor of Tees Valley Combined Authority. She was a little nervous being interviewed about her invention – The Sea Sweeper 1000 – but thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Looking forward to the next stage of the process, Lainey will meet different designers, artists, manufacturers to discuss her invention with the prospect of making it ‘real’.

Little Inventors

November 2019

Year 6 children are taking part in a transition programme called ‘In2’. This programme will follow them through into Year 7 . On Tuesday 12^th November, the first session was held at the Hullabaloo (Darlington’s Hippodrome Theatre) where children became a ‘little inventor’. Based on renewable energy, they were challenged to create their own invention that would help to generate or save energy.

Fingers crossed, one of Firthmoor’s inventions will be selected and made real!