Design & Technology Activity Session at Pocklington School

DT Specialist teachers led a series of afternoon activity sessions for state school primary children in Years 5 and 6, one afternoon a week.

Aims

The DT activity sessions were based on the national curriculum enabling pupils to learn about:

types of structure, creating strong shapes for building, teamwork, moving parts of a vehicle, using a design brief to develop an idea, safety testing, design development and analysis.

Background

The 90 minute sessions were held in Pocklington Schools Art & Design Technology Centre and led by specialist teaching staff in the DT department.  Local state primary schools were invited to book a session from a list of available dates and then select a topic from a choice of four:

KS1 Build a structure competition

KS2 Make a moving vehicle

Design a bicycle helmet competition

An insight into the development of design products

Resources

The sessions were free to the state primary schools.  Pocklington School covered all the cost of materials and resources.

Impact

The children benefited from access to purpose built facilities, specialist teaching and resources which otherwise they may not have had access to. The children had fun learning about basic principles in DT and product design and how this relates to familiar household products they use such as phones, cameras and music devices.  It gave them a platform to apply existing knowledge and develop new skills and knowledge, which could be  applied to real life situations, prompting further thought, discussion and personal development.

The project facilitated development and building of relationships with state primary schools, allowing teachers to share knowledge, ideas and resources which all foster collaborative working and best practice.

Pupil Involvement

State primary schools were invited to send up to 25 pupils from Years 5 and 6, accompanied by at least one member of staff.

Frequency

It is hoped that this event will run again in the future.