Testing Skills in D&T

In D&T, children have used the focused task (testing skills) lesson to help them develop and understand the skills needed to help make sure their design meets the intended usurers needs and purpose. These lessons allow children to experiment with different techniques; refine skills they have learnt and evaluate their design to check if any adjustments need to be made.

Experimenting in Reception

In the creative area, in Reception, children are given the  opportunities to explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques experimenting with colour, design, form and function. These opportunities allow children develop their gross and motor skills. It helps with team building and allows children to freely explore and experiment with their ideas.

Designing Playground Equipment in Year 1

 In Year 1, this child had to think about how to design and make a model playground equipment that they could use in the playground. To develop the child’s understanding of stable structures, the K’nex kit was used in the focused task as this helped the child to understand how to create a strong and stable structure before having the pressure of joining their own materials. The focused task (testing skills lesson) allowed the child to think about and plan their design and whilst building their model they could physically see what they needed to join things together and where the joins would go. Using K’nex kit for the focused task gave the child opportunities to try out ideas and explore what works and what doesn’t.

Jewellery Boxes in Year 3

In Year 3, the unit outcome was for children to make a jewellery box for their friend. In order for the box to be functional and strong enough to hold jewellery. This child tested different nets as well as different strengthening techniques. The focused tasks lesson (testing skills) allowed this child to test the  different strengthening techniques: ribbing, laminating and corrugating before deciding which technique would be most suitable for their jewellery box. In the photos, this child is testing whether the ribbing  technique would work best, this involves rolling/gluing straw, card between layers to help make the structure strong and stable.

Building Bridges in Year 5

In Year 5, the unit outcome was for children to design and make a bridge for the local council that could help reduce congestion in South London. The focused task (testing skills lesson) allowed  the child to practice and learn the correct way to  use a saw and understand how wooden blocks help them to cut materials accurately. The focused task lesson gave the child opportunities to measure and cut pieces of wood correctly to the size they needed and develop their skills. The child then used the pieces of wood to test how triangulation is used to strengthen a structure.  After this the child then evaluated the design product they created in the previous lesson to see if any amendments were needed.