Carousel Education provides high quality bespoke support that addresses current educational challenges and practices. Our vision is to enable school leaders and staff to provide the best possible outcomes for all their children. In addition to our resources, we aim to offer down to earth, interactive, innovative and practical solutions for school leaders.
Carousel Education provides high quality bespoke support that addresses current educational challenges and practices. Our vision is to enable school leaders and staff to provide the best possible outcomes for all their children. In addition to our resources, we aim to offer down to earth, interactive, innovative and practical solutions for school leaders.
William Morris is an Art and Design unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 9-11. The unit consolidates, develops and deepens children’s understanding of the technique of printmaking and sculpture through the work of the Victorian artist and designer William Morris. The package provides the medium term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation) and a knowledge organiser. Any additional resources are provided as PDFs.
Strands of Learning:
Drawing
Painting
Sculpture
Printmaking
Children study and create illuminated letter designs that are then realised as a clay bas relief sculpture. They then study the wallpaper designs of William Morris to understand motifs as the central part of patterned designs. They design their own motifs and use them in a variety of relief printmaking activities.
This unit of work is part of the Art Academy Scheme of Work for children aged 5-11 being developed on behalf of Carousel Education.
Abstract Sculpture is an Art and Design unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9. The unit consolidates and deepens children’s understanding of sculpture and in particular, assemblage sculpture. Learning is delivered through an in-depth look at abstract art and some iconic artists and artwork that feature in this art movement.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation) and a knowledge organiser. An additional presentation focuses on What is Sculpture?
Strands of Learning:
Sculpture
Painting
Children learn about some of the key artists and art works associated with abstract art. They study the work of Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro and interpret their work through authentic assemblage sculpture. The unit completes with them creating their own abstract sculpture designed to highlight the problem of plastic waste. This is used to deepen children’s understanding of how contemporary artists use their artwork to express their feelings and thought and to convey important messages,
This unit of work is part of the Art Academy Scheme of Work for children aged 5-11 being developed on behalf of Carousel Education.
Weaving is an Art and Design unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9. The unit introduces and deepens children’s understanding of the technique of weaving. The package provides the medium term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation) and a knowledge organiser. Any additional resources are provided as PDFs.
Strands of Learning:
• Textiles
Children undertake a range of weaving activities to develop their understanding of the technique. Children progress from simple paper weaving to using different types of looms. They learn the basic weaving technique and learn the different names for the equipment used when weaving. The learn simple knots and techniques to decorate and embellish their weaves.
This unit of work is part of the Art Academy Scheme of Work for children aged 5-11 being developed on behalf of Carousel Education.
Clarice Cliff is an Art and Design unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9. The unit focuses on the work of the ceramic designer Clarice Cliff.
The package provides the medium term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation) and a knowledge organiser. Any additional resources are provided as PDFs.
Strands of Learning:
Drawing
Painting
Sculpture
Children draw fruit and then turn them into stylised drawings that are incorporated into designs for plates and bowls. Children create landscape designs in the style of Clarice Cliff. Skills are developed in sculpture through creating paper mache bowls and ceramic pots using the slab method. As an additional activity, children are given the opportunity to create wooden clock faces.
This unit of work is part of the Art Academy Scheme of Work for children aged 5-11 being developed on behalf of Carousel Education.
Zentangles is an Art and Design unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9. Its main theme is creating patterns using line, shape, and colour. Children create Zentangle patterns, a Zentangle sculpture and a Zentangle monoprint.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation) and a knowledge organiser. Any additional resources are provided as PDFs.
Strands of Learning:
• Drawing
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Printmaking
This unit encourages children to discuss and learn about colours, shapes, and lines and how they are used to create pattern. A Zentangle is a meditative form of doodling that has patterns that interweave and ‘tangle’ together. It can be used as a form of mindfulness for children. As well as promoting calmness and relaxation, Zentangles are a way of developing children’s fine motor skills and effective use of art mediums such as drawing pens, felt tips, colouring pencils, and paint. Zentangles are a form of abstract art. Abstract art is about shapes and colours and the feelings it expresses, not about the accurate portrayal of a subject.
This unit of work is part of the Art Academy Scheme of Work for children aged 5-11 being developed on behalf of Carousel Education.
Pop Art is an Art and Design unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 5-7. It introduces children to this well-known art movement and some of its features and iconic artists. Learning within this unit of work focuses mainly on printmaking techniques.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation) and a knowledge organiser. Additional resources are provided as PDFs.
Strands of Learning:
• Printmaking
• Drawing
• Painting
Children learn a range of simple printmaking techniques including using their hands, stamps and stencils to create repeated images. They use these techniques to create pop-art inspired prints. As part of the unit of work they learn about the iconic work of the artist Romero Britto and through this are introduced to the genre of still life painting. In studying the art of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring they create multiple printed images in the style of pop art.
This unit of work is part of the Art Academy Scheme of Work for children aged 5-11 being developed on behalf of Carousel Education.
Street Food Fiesta is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 9-11. The unit focuses on designing and making a street food product and developing children’s knowledge of being a young entrepreneur.
Design Brief: To design and make a healthy food product suitable for the Street Food Festival
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
• Cooking and Nutrition
In this unit of work:
Children set up a small food business to create and sell a sweet or savoury food product at the school Street Food Festival. They learn about street food around the world, design their own street food and learn some of the fundamentals of entrepreneurship when creating their own small business.
This unit of work is part of the Primary Design Technology Scheme of Work for children aged 5-11 being developed on behalf of Carousel Education.
In this unit of work children using Crumble Kit components to design and make a night light that is controlled by a microcontroller and is activated when it gets dark.
Children learn about all the different ways in which lights are used in the home and they understand that a product such as a lamp can bee broken down into its component parts. As part of their learning, they re-activate their knowledge of using simple circuits to make a bulb light up. They learn about the purpose of nightlights and about their inventor – Abe Donsky. As part of this learning sequence, children can also learn about Thomas Edision.
Children are then taught about the different components of Crumble Kit and how they are controlled using block coding language. Children then apply they learnt knowledge and understanding to create nightlight that lights up when it gets dark using a light sensor to monitor the environment. The nightlight shade is made of recycled plastic and this needs to be considered when designing the nightlight.
In this unit of work children design and make a fruit salad based on the story of Handa’s Surprise written by Eileen Browne. Children learn the names of a range of fruit and investigate where fruit can be bought locally. Children learn how to cut and prepare a range of fruits. Through tasting apples, they begin to develop their taste vocabulary. This vocabulary is extended through more taste tests where the children are taught how to cut fruit using the bridge hold and the claw grip. Children are taught key healthy eating messages including eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, drinking lots of water and cutting down sugary foods. Having designed and made their fruit salad they evaluate their product and the products of other children repeating using a taste test. As part of the evaluation, they write a letter from Akeyo to Handa thanking her for the gift and saying what they liked about the fruit salad.
In this unit children extend their knowledge and understanding of mechanical systems by learning about pneumatic systems. They apply this knowledge to create a rainforest monster toy with a pneumatic moving mouth. They begin by learning about how air creates movement in a pneumatic system. Using this knowledge in a focused practical task, they create a simple pneumatic toy based on the story of the wide mouth frog. They further extend their knowledge of pneumatic systems using connected syringes to understand how pneumatic systems can change the direction and amount of movement in a system. They apply this knowledge to design and make a toy based on a rainforest animal. The toy uses a pneumatic system to control the opening and closing of its mouth.
Temple Marble Run is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 9-11.
Design Brief: Design and make a prototype Marble Run toy based on a temple theme for the MAGIC toy company.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
Materials
Structures
In this project children design and make a prototype Marble Run game. This is an opportunity for children to consolidate and demonstrate their understanding of structures and in particular different techniques used to make structures stronger, stiffer, and more stable. Children deepen their understanding of designing a product around a central theme and the use of a mood board to develop their ideas. When making the Marble Run toy they will need to try out and test out their ideas to ensure that the Marble Run functions as it should. This project introduces the idea that designers make models and prototypes as part of the design process and use these models to inform the final design.
Sessions:
IDEA Task 1 What is a Marble Run? & IDEA Task 2 Creating Tall Towers
Focused Practical Task 1 – Columns and Sliders
DME: Introducing the Marble Run Project
DME: Developing the Design
DME: Making the Marble Run Toy
DME: Evaluation Session
In this unit of work children learn how to make a focaccia bread product that can be used as part of a shared meal. They investigate a range of bread products from around the world and have the opportunity to taste test some breads that can be bought locally in a bakery then recording their results using a taste test recording sheet. Children learn how to follow a basic bread recipe, about the action of yeast and the importance of kneading bread. Using this knowledge, they adapt this recipe and add other ingredients to create their own focaccia bread product which is shaped to make it suitable to be shared. The completed product is taste tested and evaluated.
Sequence of Learning for Teachers
IDEA Task 1 – Breads from Around the World & IDEA Task 2 Investigating Breads
Focused Practical Task 1 – Baking Bread
IDEA Task 3 – What is Focaccia? & Focused Practical Task 2 – Shaping Dough
DME: Bread Designing
DME: Making Focaccia
DME: Evaluating and Packaging the Product
In this unit of work children design and make a robot buggy that is controllable using Crumble Kit and programmed for random movement using computer block coding. As part of this project children learn about how electric vehicles work and the story of Elon Musk. Children embark on a series of focused practical tasks to create a chassis on which to add other electrical components to make their controllable vehicle. They learn how to use block code to program their vehicle to successfully complete the ‘test track’ before their vehicle is allowed to take part in the class Robo Wars. Children evaluate their project by making a short documentary film or a display stand or by taking part in a ‘show and tell’ event.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
IDEA Task 1 – Robo Wars!
Focused Practical Task 1: Creating the Chassis
Focused Practical Task 2: Vehicle Control
Buggy Designing and Making
Test Track
Evaluation: The Robo Wars Competition – Let Battle Commence
Cleopatra Cushions is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9.
Design and make a decorative cushion to be sold in the British Museum Gift Shop.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
• Materials & Textiles
In this unit children join textile pieces to create both a cushion and a cushion cover. Children investigate different kinds of cushions and their purpose, and they learn that cushions can be designed to provide support and to be decorative. They build on previous learning about the running stitch and different embroidery techniques that are used to decorate fabrics.
They are introduced to the backstitch technique and apply this skill when learning about different textile fastenings and when sewing a button and matching buttonhole.
Using the design brief and specifications, they design a cushion cover based on the iconic image of Queen Cleopatra. They use learnt techniques to make a cushion and a decorative cushion cover following the designs that they made. As part of the evaluation, children create an online shopping page for the cushion product and also present their product in a Dragon’s Den simulation.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
IDEA Task 1 – Investigating Cushions & Focused Practical Task 1 – Decorative Stitching
IDEA Task 2 – Investigating Fastenings & Focused Practical Task 2 – Buttons & Buttonholes
Focused Practical Task 3 – Making a Cushion
Cushion Designer (Designing the Cushion Cover)
Cushion Maker (Making the Cushion Cover)
Evaluating the Cushion Product
Kandinksy Cushions is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9.
Design Brief: Design and make a decorative cushion to be sold in the local art gallery shop.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
Materials and Textiles
In this unit children join textile pieces to create both a cushion and a cushion cover. Children investigate different kinds of cushions and their purpose, and they learn that cushions can be designed to provide support and to be decorative. They build on previous learning about the running stitch and different embroidery techniques that are used to decorate fabrics.
They are introduced to the backstitch technique and apply this skill when learning about different textile fastenings and when sewing a button and matching buttonhole.
Using the design brief and specifications, they design a cushion cover based on the iconic abstract art of Wassily Kandinsky. They use learnt techniques to make a cushion and a decorative cushion cover following the designs that they made. As part of the evaluation, children create an online shopping page for the cushion product and also present their product in a Dragon’s Den simulation.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
IDEA Task 1 – Investigating Cushions & Focused Practical Task 1 – Decorative Stitching
IDEA Task 2 – Investigating Fastenings & Focused Practical Task 2 – Buttons & Buttonholes
Focused Practical Task 3 – Making a Cushion
Cushion Designer (Designing the Cushion Cover)
Cushion Maker (Making the Cushion Cover)
Evaluating the Cushion Product
Sharing Bread is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9. The unit focuses on children designing and making bread that can be shared as part of a meal.
Design Brief: Design and make a unique bread product to share with friends.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
• Cooking and Nutrition
In this unit of work:
Children will investigate a range of bread products from around the world. They will learn a basic bread recipe and using this knowledge will adapt this recipe to create their own authentic bread product that has been designed and made by them. In this unit they will learn that additional ingredients can be added to the bread to create a unique recipe. They will learn how to shape the bread to make it easier for tearing and sharing. They conduct a taste test to evaluate their bread and also develop packaging for their bread product.
This unit of work is part of the Primary Design Technology Scheme of Work for children aged 5-11 being developed on behalf of Carousel Education.
In this project, children design and make a prototype animal home for the school garden or a local park. They are introduced to using computer software to help design products and use this software to design an animal home. Children learn about frame and shell structures and apply this knowledge when making their animal home prototype. As part of the evaluation process children participate in a Dragon’s Den activity where they present their prototype design and model to a ‘panel of experts’.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
IDEA Task 1 – Animal Homes & IDEA Task 2 – Investigating Structures
Focused Practical Task 1 – Making a Wood Framework & IDEA Task 3 – Understanding Structures
Focused Practical Task 2 – Introducing Computer-Aided Design
Designing the Animal Home
Making Session
Evaluation Session – Into the Dragon’s Den
This 2-part webcast focuses on how five principles of effective DT can be used to develop the curriculum in design technology and as part of the rationale for teaching the subject in primary schools.
This webcast is part of a series of webcasts written and delivered by Laurence Keel for PrimaryDT that covers design technology in English primary schools. Once complete, these webcasts will cover all aspects of design technology in primary schools. These webcasts are designed to support school leaders, subject leaders and teachers in delivering high quality outcomes for children in this subject. These webcasts can be used for individual professional development or used as part of whole-school professional development in design technology.
Free resources to accompany these webcasts can be downloaded from the PrimaryDT website.
This 2-part webcast focuses on how five principles of effective DT can be used to develop the curriculum in design technology and as part of the rationale for teaching the subject in primary schools.
This webcast is part of a series of webcasts written and delivered by Laurence Keel for PrimaryDT that covers design technology in English primary schools. Once complete, these webcasts will cover all aspects of design technology in primary schools. These webcasts are designed to support school leaders, subject leaders and teachers in delivering high quality outcomes for children in this subject. These webcasts can be used for individual professional development or used as part of whole-school professional development in design technology.
Free resources to accompany these webcasts can be downloaded from the PrimaryDT website.