Design & Technology

Design & Technology Lead: Miss Fox

Vision

At Menorah Foundation School, we aim to encourage children to unleash their creativity through a strategic process of investigating, designing and planning to create a final product.

Through carefully planned units of learning, our goal is to develop our children’s understanding of the world around them and to ensure there are opportunities for quality hands-on experiences. We aim to equip our children with life skills that they can utilise in daily life.

Where possible, we aim for units of learning to link design and technology with other subjects to enrich our children’s experiences and allow them to apply the knowledge and skills they've gained in areas such as science, maths, English and art and design. We strive for learning to be interconnected and meaningful, fostering motivation and providing purpose for learning.

How We Teach Design & Technology at MFS

We follow the National Curriculum for design and technology. In KS1 and KS2, children complete projects within units of learning under the following headers: Construction & Mechanics, Textiles, and Food and Nutrition. In EYFS and Year 1, design and technology is woven throughout continuous provision and planned opportunities.

Our Construction & Mechanics and Textiles units of learning have a skilled based focus which is consistently revisited throughout a child’s time at Menorah Foundation School.

For each unit, our curriculum is broken down into six main areas:

Safety
Investigate
Design
Make
Evaluate
Technical knowledge.

Additionally, our exciting Food and Nutrition units at Menorah Foundation School include three annual projects and are designed to take full advantage of our newly equipped Children’s Kitchen. Each unit has a skilled based focus which is consistently revisited and developed throughout a child’s time at Menorah Foundation School. These are:

Cutting and Knife Skills
Shaping, Assembling and Heating
Mixing, Combining and Baking.

Units build upon previous learning, resulting in more varied and complex dishes being created as our students journey up the school.

Our Food and Nutrition units allow children to learn important health and safety protocols which can only be fully understood when experienced practically. Alongside the practical cooking lessons, the children also learn about the wider concepts of food theory such as where food comes from, sustainability, nutrition and seasonality, as outlined in the National Curriculum.

Technical language is the key vocabulary in which children require in order to accurately explain their learning. Pupils are taught these words to deepen their understanding of concepts being taught. Children are required to read and understand key vocabulary for each unit of learning which should be used in their written and verbal responses. Further reading links are made through opportunities for children to follow recipe cards and instruction manuals.

At our annual gallery, pupils are encouraged to present their final pieces and parents are invited to see their children’s hard work and become immersed in their learning with them.

Impact

As a result of our design and technology teaching at Menorah Foundation School, you will see children who:

Are Curious, independent learners who question and reflect on knowledge through discussion.
Make links with learning in other areas of the curriculum.
Work collaboratively and practically to investigate, design and evaluate.
Make decisions while considering their targeted audience.
Speak confidently about their design and technology learning, using relevant technical language.
Are developing confidence with the planning and preparation of food dishes, and who can work safely when doing so.
Understand the importance of a balanced and healthy diet.