At Keyworth Primary School, creativity, individuality and innovation are central to our ethos and are reflected in the creative curriculum we follow. Through design and technology, our children are taught to use their imaginations, to follow a brief and conduct research, to experiment, create and evaluate. We encourage the children to draw inspiration from a variety of areas, from historical research to past designs and designers, to consider their brief and reflect upon their own ideas and designs. The children are taught progressively, with skills revisited, refined and developed. As they move up the school, our children continue to deepen their learning, to think critically and develop their skills in problem solving, utilising and developing skills in other areas, such as computing, science and maths.

Year 1

Year one learnt about different materials in science, which they then applied to their DT topic. Their brief was to 'make a boat that floats and holds 3 toy people'. They explored different kinds of toy boats and thought about what materials they were made out of. They then tested some materials to check if they were waterproof and if they would float. The final outcomes were brilliant and the children all thought very carefully when designing and making their boats!

Year 1 were also given a design brief to create a moving picture including a slider. They began by researching and exploring different types of books with moving pictures. They looked at the ways in which the pictures moved and discussed how they thought they might work. They observed the mechanisms and looked at how the movement was restricted in the books. This gave them some great knowledge to be able to start their project. 

Year 3

Year 3 discussed what electricity is and how items will not work without it. They looked at features of an electrical circuit and were given components of an electrical circuit to make their own including switches, buzzers and light bulbs. They then carried out some research on different torches and used this as inspiration to design and make their own torches for different purposes. 

Year 4

Year 4 have been designing, making and evaluating their own Viking Long Boats.

Year 2

Year 2 have been exploring various objects that could be used to make wheels and axels. They then used their knowledge to design, make and evaluate their own moving vehicles. 

CARNIVAL

Every year during the summer term, we hold a whole school carnival: a celebration of our children's learning, focusing on different themes each year. While it is a great opportunity for cross-curricular learning, our main focus is on the arts. Through art, design and DT, the children get an opportunity to really show their creativity, making banners, costumes, hats, masks, musical instruments, large pieces of art and much more. Dancing and singing to the music of our samba band, we take our carnival around the community, who come out to watch, dance and cheer us along.