At Marfleet we want to ensure all learners, receive the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It provides for our wonderful children broader development, enabling them to develop and discover their interests and talents. We want our children to leave us well rounded, respectable and ready for the world
Our curriculum is centred around our BEST principles:
Believing all children can, Engagement through excellence, Skills for life and Trailblazing thinkers
DT at Marfleet Primary Academy
Marfleet Design and Technology uses the BEST values to transform practical making tasks into opportunities for engineering, problem-solving, and inclusive heritage work.
| B – Believing all children can (Inclusion) |
The DT curriculum is built on a foundation of “learning by doing,” which allows children of all abilities to succeed through tactile and practical exploration.
- Early Success: In Year 1, children start with fundamental “Structure” tasks like kite making using wooden dowels, ensuring everyone masters basic joining techniques.
- Inclusive Mediums: By using varied materials—from soft “Textiles” in Year 2 to malleable “Clay” in Year 3 and 4—the curriculum ensures children with different fine motor strengths can excel.
- Progression for All: The curriculum builds complexity fairly; for example, Year 1 explores basic wheels and axles, while Year 5 progresses to complex “Pulley systems.”
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| E – Engagement through excellence |
Engagement is achieved through “excellent” project outcomes that result in functional, high-quality products.
- High-Quality Outcomes: Children are motivated by creating tangible items such as “Christmas stockings” (Year 2), “Clay jewellery” (Year 4), and working “Night lights” using electrical systems (Year 6).
- Thematic Excellence: Projects are often tied to “excellent” historical contexts, such as making “Victorian carts” in Year 1 or “tomb building” pulleys in Year 5, making the making process feel purposeful.
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| S – Skills for life |
DT is the primary vehicle for teaching children essential, practical life skills they will use long after they leave the academy.
- Food and Nutrition: A core life skill is developed through a clear cooking progression: from simple “Sandwiches” (Year 1) and “Baking bread” (Year 3) to “Pizza” (Year 4), “Quiche” (Year 5), and “Ration stew” (Year 6).
- Structural Integrity: By studying “Bridges” in Year 5 and “Roman structures” in Year 3, children learn the life skills of architectural stability and the importance of secure joins.
- Community Connection: In Year 6, children use “Textiles” to design a quilt square with a “memory of Marfleet,” fostering a sense of belonging and community identity.
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| T – Trailblazing thinkers |
The DT curriculum challenges children to be “thinkers” who can design, test, and improve their own inventions.
- Mechanical Innovation: Children act as trailblazers by experimenting with “Mechanisms,” such as levers and pivots in Year 2, and linkages to create a “moving volcano” in Year 4.
- Problem Solving: Designing “Pulley systems” for tomb building in Year 5 requires children to think critically about force and motion.
- Engineering Logic: The Year 6 “Electrical systems” unit forces children to think logically about circuits to ensure their “Night lights” function correctly.
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DT Long Term Plan
