Design Technology

As part of one of our Design and Technology units called, ‘Cooking and nutrition: Come dine with me’, we researched starter recipes that included red pepper.  Working in small groups of 2 or 3 we then followed our recipe, including using the correct quantities of each ingredient and prepared and cooked our own starter.  At the end of the afternoon the rest of the year group came into to join our groups to try what we had created.

In Year 5, our DT topic in the Spring first ½ term was to make a soft toy.  We created cardboard templates, cut the body from felt (2 identical pieces) and then we sewed on some appendages (fins, eyes, ears, noses etc). After that, we used a blanket stitch to join the two edges of the front and back together. A blanket stitch is a strong and decorative stitch, so it was perfect for our projects.  Lastly, we stuffed our toys and then used more blanket stitch to close the stuffing entrance. We are so proud of our end products and couldn’t wait to show them off!

In Year 5, we have been looking at healthy Bolognese recipes.  We looked at a traditional recipe and how it could be improved by adding more vegetables and removing some of the fat, salt and sugar.  In groups, we designed our own recipes and then came together to create a mega recipe! We prepared the vegetables (the bridge grip was useful at keeping our fingers safe from the knife!) and then we sautéed them gently in olive oil.  We added chopped tomatoes and passata and then left it to simmer for 40 minutes. We blended the sauce to make it smooth and then mixed it with some linguini.  A sprinkling of salt and pepper was added and we tucked in! Most of us tasted it with the majority of people absolutely loving it, coming back for seconds!

As part of our DT project we created a meal that had to incorporate pineapple.  We researched recipes and chose one that we would like to make.  We had to think carefully about the ingredients that would be required and the time to would take to prepare and cook it.  We had great fun and made a wide range of different things.

In Design and Technology lessons, year 6 are working in groups to prepare either a starter dish using peppers, a main dish using salmon fillet or a dessert that uses pineapple as the main ingredient.

This week our start pairs created some wonderful concoctions ranging from pepper and vegetable soup to stuffed peppers using rice, cheese, capers and even anchovies to red pepper salsa nachos and finally minced beef and red pepper salad tacos. The pupils worked tenaciously and thoroughly enjoyed the cooking opportunity. Their manners and skill building in the school kitchen were first class and then when their groups joined them at the end of the cooking session, all were able to taste test the dishes and rate them.

Year 6 have enjoyed designing and making waistcoats to fit a bear mascot in each class. The theme was Christmas and there was a lot of fun and focus involved in this technology project. After designing our waistcoats, we selected the material we wanted to use considering colour preferences and colour combinations. We then used templates as stencils for the body of the clothing, chalk and scissors as well as thread, pins and needles to join and create seams. We decorated the waistcoats with an applique Christmas design and added buttons for finishing touches. We had a great time making these and hope you like our final products too.

For Maths, Science and Technology week, In Year 5, we made pop-up books.  Our brief was to create a pop-up book for a Year 1 child based on a nursery rhyme.  We chose Humpty Dumpty.  We designed our books and decided which type of mechanism we would use on each page (a lever, a slider or a pop-out box).  We needed to use our maths skills for measuring and looking at angles for our levers. It took a long time to get everything just right and we really concentrated on making the books attractive to our audience by making them bright, colourful and interactive.  We are so pleased with our end results – we think they are EGG-cellent!