An Aspirational Curriculum:

We believe that each child at Rickleton has the potential to be successful in any area of curricular or extra-curricular life now and for their future. The curriculum they access must be the driver of this in offering them deep learning and inspirational experiences in a broad range of areas. Working out where their talents lie and the things they enjoy are a huge factor in this and we expect that all children give their all in all lessons.

In September 2023, we introduced our 'aspirational concepts' to support children and staff to understand the key skills and knowledge which they are building when studying a subject and where this could lead them in their future. We want our children to be driven by their future possibilities and see each lesson as a stepping stone towards this.

A Clear and Well planned Curriculum:

Subject leaders have worked hard to ensure that our curriculum fulfills not only national expectations but also the learning necessary to allow a child in Rickleton, in the North East of England, to be successful.

By carefully considering how knowledge and skills progress, ensuring that learning carefully builds on and consolidates prior knowledge, children have the best chance to feel confident and successful in their studies and to retain their learning as they move forward in their education.

The documents below show what we want children to achieve via the subject and how we plan to make this happen (commonly known as Intent, Implementation and Impact). They also show how topics and and skills are planned to give pupils a deep knowledge and hopefully a passion for the subject to support their future aspirations.

D.T. Basic Skills

Through design technology, we teach children basic life skills. To find out more about the skill of cutting and supporting your child to develop this skill, please see the links and documents below:

How to introduce scissor skills to young children:

https://www.growinghandsonkids.com/5-easy-ways-to-introduce-scissor-skills-for-toddlers.html

Basic food hygiene rules

https://www.plenty.com/en/kitchen-tips/the-10-rules-of-basic-food-hygiene-for-kids-who-love-to-cook/

Nursery Food Technology

As part of our ‘Topic’ learning, we made our own vegetable soup. We learned where different food comes from and the job of a farmer. We then used our senses to explore some of the different vegetables. After that, we washed our hands and put our hats/aprons on. We then worked carefully to cut and prepare the vegetables for the soup. We learned about the key rules when using sharp objects, such as moving fingers out of the way, using the flat of your hand to apply further pressure and always watching what you are doing. We also learned that it was much easier to stand around the table. We found some of the vegetables were tougher than others to cut but we persevered and managed to cut them ourselves. We then enjoyed eating the soup for our snack!

Year 1 Clay pots

In Design & Technology, we learnt and applied different moulding techniques to make clay pig paperweights.

Year 2 - DT plane project 

The children have been working on their cutting and folding skills this term. The children learnt how to cut safely and accurately using scissors, as well as fold with precision. The children designed and created a decorative paper plane according to the needs of a given design brief. The children then tested and evaluated their products.

Y2 Food Technology

The children have been learning about the importance of eating 5 pieces of fruit and vegetables everyday as part of a balanced, healthy diet. They used their knowledge of healthy foods to design and then create their own Coronation inspired healthy snack using a range of fruit and vegetables.

In Design Technology we learnt how to use a knife safely to slice and dice. The children have learnt 2 different techniques to ensure they use a knife safely when preparing food - the claw technique and the bridge technique. The children enjoyed eating their own creation. I think we may have some buddying chefs in the making.