At Pleasant Street Primary School, we want to encourage our pupils to develop a love of Design and Technology, including Cooking and Nutrition, and to understand it’s relevance in today’s society.
We encourage pupils on their own creative journey where they have the opportunity to learn new life skills through exploration, designing, making and evaluating; which are key to a successful end product.
Following an iterative process during D&T will build their resilience and resourcefulness and build on their knowledge of healthy eating to enable them to make sensible choices. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up with aspirations to work in a wide range of professions.
USEFUL WEBSITES
This week the children in Nursery have been discussing what foods are healthy and unhealthy, as a class we chose healthy and unhealthy foods to put into the correct lunch boxes, then we had a go at decorating our very own healthy food plates for our snack room display. We will continue to discuss healthy and unhealthy foods at snack time.
Textiles Bags
In DT this term, Class 3 are exploring textiles and making their own bags. We’ve been practising running stitch and back stitch techniques and developing our sewing skills. 🧵👜
It was a very warm day in the garden so we went to visit the fire when the fire pit was ready to cook on. Today we made cheese toasties, we sang songs around the fire pit whilst we waited for them to cook.
Our second stay and play group enjoyed time in the garden, taking part in some forest school activities. The children and some of their parents enjoyed making nature bracelets, flower art and they used the fire to toast some bread. The children enjoyed showing the parents their knowledge of how to stay safe around the fire before helping to prepare the kindling and lighting the fire with the flint and steel.
This week in forest school we enjoyed activities in the sunshine. We started with a scavenger hunt for items that matched descriptions . After that we worked together to peel, slice and core apples before mixing them with sultanas, cinnamon and a sprinkle of sugar. Whilst they were cooking on the fire we used a whisk to make our cream topping.
Class 2 created some fantastic playground structures. They carefully followed their plans and used different attachment techniques to join their equipment together.
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In DT we picked what fruit we wanted to have in our fruit salad, we chopped the fruit and added it into our fruit salad.
The class spent time this afternoon researching how gears and pulleys worked. They will use this knowledge to help them design their fairground rides.
This term in D.T we are making our own fruit salads. The children got to taste different fruit and told us what fruit they liked and disliked.
We went to the park and looked at different playground equipment. We discussed how the equipment moved, the materials used and then we tried the equipment.
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The BIg Bad wolf came to school and wanted to eat the pancakes for our Easter breakfast ! So we made a plan to trap the wolf and save our breakfast, the children discussed ideas then we drew a plan and wrote a list of materials that we needed. Finally the children built a trap to catch the wolf in the garden with a toy cake to entice the wolf and catch him in the net.
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This week the children have celebrated Easter with lots of fun activities, they have created some wonderful easter cards and pictures, made some delicious rice crispy cakes and had a very special visit from the Easter Bunny after our Easter Egg hunt!
Today was our last lesson of our Houses on stilts. We got to make our final piece and do our evaluation of how we found this experience. We had lots of cool designs for our houses like treehouses and houses with pools.
After a busy session, we made our own pizza pockets. We filled wholemeal pitta breads with toppings including; pizza sauce, cheese, tomatoes and peppers before putting them on the fire to cook. It was great to see some children trying and tasting some new ingredients.
We enjoyed listening to a story called ‘The Flower Thief’ which explained some of the signs that we might look out for in the garden and at home to show us that Spring is here. We used the petals and leaves from flowers such as tulips, gerberas and daffodils to create a piece of art. We then used hammers to transfer the dye from the flowers to the fabric.
Today we continued our House on Stilts for DT. This was lots of fun to be able to put our houses together and see the progress we’ve made.
Year 3 have loved their D&T topic on mechanisms! 👾⚙️
Throughout the unit, we designed and created our own monsters while learning how levers and linkages create movement. Fantastic creativity and problem-solving from everyone!
In today’s forest school, we looked at a non-fiction book about birds, which listed some ways we can attract birds to our garden and some interesting ways to provide food for them to enjoy. We made two different types of bird feeders; we threaded Cheerios on to pipe cleaners and rolled tubes in bird seed. We decided which tree to place them in and we are looking forward to seeing if any come to visit for a snack!
Today the children enjoyed a camp fire, We began by thinking and looking for woodland animals then the children talked about fire safety before helping to chop the wood for the fire. We took turns to stack the wood correctly before lighting the fire with a flint, then we enjoyed singing songs around the camp fire and listening to a story.
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Today we had a lovely time visiting the forest school facilities at Liverpool John Moores University. The children enjoyed building a den, collecting sticks, filling bird feeders, playing games on the field and taking part in a treasure hunt to find different natural materials. What a lovely morning !
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Today we started our new DT topic which is Houses on Stilts. We made our design and used materials to make certain shapes and bends that we can use for our project. We then used sweets and cocktail sticks to make a design.
This term in DT we are making puppets, the children looked at different puppets and told us what they liked and disliked about the puppets.
In DT today after doing some research we all had a go at making our own vehicles using Lego.We needed to make sure we had the right amount of wheels on so it could move.Some children who had finished had a go with different types of material .
The class spent the afternoon practising their sewing skills, the running stitch proving to be very useful!
Today, Year 4 visited Pizza Express to take part in a pizza-making workshop. The children had a fantastic time learning about the full process of making a pizza, from preparing the dough to choosing and adding toppings. They explored the technical skills involved, such as measuring ingredients, following instructions carefully, and working step by step in the correct order. The children also learned about kitchen hygiene, teamwork, and the importance of patience and precision to achieve a good final result. It was a fun and engaging experience that helped develop both their practical skills and their understanding of how food is prepared.
Today we had some very special visitors. We had the chance to make some vegetable scouse. We chopped some carrots, onions , leeks and potatoes. We then cooked it and tasted it and really enjoyed the flavours. Some children said it made them feel warm inside and some said it’s a very healthy meal.
In Year 4, we learned how to make a simple and healthy stir-fry. The children practised safe cutting techniques, learning how to hold a knife correctly and chop a variety of vegetables such as peppers, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage and also learnt how to press garlic. The lesson helped them build confidence in the kitchen while exploring healthy eating and teamwork. Year 4 really enjoyed this lesson as there was a lot of teamwork and learning together.
Last week in Nursery, we marked Remembrance Day and Children in Need through meaningful and creative activities. The children worked together to make a beautiful poppy wreath using their handprints, helping them learn about remembering and thanking others. We also had a fun own clothes day, where the children enjoyed making colourful party hats and decorating cupcakes to celebrate Children in Need. It was a special week filled with creativity, kindness, and community.
Making our own bread
In DT, Year 3 had an exciting time learning how to make bread from scratch. The children explored the ingredients needed and talked about how yeast helps the dough to rise. They carefully measured and mixed the flour, water, salt, and yeast before kneading the dough to make it smooth and stretchy. Everyone worked together brilliantly, following each step of the recipe and noticing how the dough changed texture as it proved and baked. The classroom was filled with the delicious smell of freshly baked bread, and the children were very proud to taste their warm, homemade loaves.
Bread and Sandwiches
During DT, Class 3 had a fun and practical lesson making sandwiches by following simple instructions. The children learned how to use basic kitchen tools safely and carefully spread butter, layered fillings, and assembled their sandwiches step by step. They worked neatly, helping each other and checking that they followed the instructions in the correct order. The activity helped them understand the importance of sequencing, hygiene, and teamwork. Everyone enjoyed tasting their finished sandwiches and felt proud of what they had made!
This week, our Nursery children enjoyed reading Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. They had great fun pretending to make their own soup in the tuff tray before helping to wash, chop, and smell a variety of real vegetables. Together, the children created a set of instructions for how to make pumpkin soup, using lots of fantastic language to describe what they were doing. The teachers then cooked and blended the soup, and everyone enjoyed tasting their delicious homemade pumpkin soup for snack time. It was a wonderful sensory and storytelling experience that brought the book to life!
The children worked together to make play-dough, we gathered all the ingredients that we needed and measured them using a cup. The children took turns adding an ingredient each, then we got messy using our hands to knead the dough.
Class 5 enjoyed preparing vegetable and tomato soup this afternoon.
All About Me!
Our nursery children have been celebrating everything that makes them special. We shared stories and conversations about ourselves—our faces, favourite things, and what makes each of us unique.
Using natural treasures from our garden walk that we found, we created fantastic faces using leaves, twigs, and stones from the garden to create beautiful self-portraits. Inspired by Billy and the Big New School, they explored different facial expressions and how our feelings can show on our faces by sticking and gluing different facial expressions on to portraits pictures.
To finish our “all about me” adventure, everyone designed a delicious pancake face using breakfast items and fresh fruit—smiles you could eat! What a wonderful way to learn about who we are while being creative, curious, and proud of ourselves.
Today we made pizzas in our DT lesson from scratch. We enjoyed learning about the science behind how we use yeast and the different types of dough you can use. We all enjoyed the part of putting the toppings on as we could pick all of our favourite toppings.
The children demonstrated excellent skills this afternoon as they used different cutting techniques on a range of fruit and vegetables.
Matthew helped us with our research this morning by showing us how he prepares soup!
The class tasted different soups this afternoon as part of their research. Tomato soup was popular!
Reception had a wonderful time becoming little chefs! The children worked to create their own set of simple, clear instructions for making jam sandwiches. They carefully followed each step, learning how to use knives safely to spread the jam and butter. Everyone showed fantastic listening skills and concentration, and of course, the best part was enjoying the delicious sandwiches they made themselves!
A fantastic start to our DT make session this afternoon, after designing some wonderful fairground rides!
The children enjoyed researching different mechanisms this afternoon and tried to use working gears! Super research to begin our topic!
Today in D.T we made our fruit salads. The children enjoyed chopping and cutting the fruit and picking what fruit they would like to add into their fruit salads.
Today in D.T we practised chopping, peeling and grating fruit.
In D.T we are learning about fruit salads. Today we tasted different fruits to see what fruits we liked and disliked. The children rated the fruit out of 10.
In DT we made our final design with our puppets. The children had lots of fun making them.
DT Photography
Class 2 had a fantastic time using our photography skills to capture both the Anglican and Metropolitan Cathedral. We came back to school cropped and put filters on our chosen photos.
We also had the opportunity to go outside and do some bird watching to further our project research— what types of birds do we see around school that might use our birdhouses or bird feeders?
As part of our D.T. research we have explored two different structure building techniques, one using cardboard and the other using wooden toothpicks. We will decide which one works best for our projects.
In D.T we are looking at puppets. Today we looked at puppets in the classroom and talked about what we liked and disliked about them. We then started to practice our sewing skills.
In D.T. we have been practicing making cardboard attachments as they will come in useful for building structures later on in our new topic.
After design and practising skills, the class began making their slippers using their templates.
We decided to spend the afternoon practising our sewing skills before making our slippers!
The children designed their slippers in their books today before cutting out their templates which will be stitched together.
The class practised different stitches this afternoon, the running stitch, overstitch and blanket stitch. There were some wonderful examples made using binka material.
The children were able to label the features of different types of footwear before looking at different slipper designs! A great start to our DT topic!
Class 6 have been using crumbles to create night lights. We looked at how we can program a crumble to display different coloured lights, children then researched different styles of night lights and create their own design on the net of a 3D shape . Using a crumble kit, children were able to code the crumble to use different coloured lights to get their nightlight to light up!
In D.T we made sandwiches using different types of fillings.
The children became mini chefs this afternoon, preparing and making soup!
We showcased our chopping, cutting and grating skills when making our salads. We used our planning to select ingredients to make our delicious salads and we cannot wait to taste them!
In preparation for our soup making, class 5 have been practicing cutting vegetables.🥒🥦🍅
We have loved tasting vegetables and pasta salads to give us some ideas for our own designs.
The children enjoyed a soup tasting session as part of their DT research. They gave their opinion on flavour, appearance and texture.
Today we tasted different pizzas and discussed what we liked and what we disliked about them.
We continued to practice the running stitch and also practiced the running back stitch.
We began to add struts to our structures to create a raised platform. We remembered that triangles are stronger than squares so tried to incorporate them were possible.
For DT we practiced threading needles and looking at different types of stitches.
We used what we learned last week about sturdy structures to create the base for our flood proof houses.
For DT we looked at a selection of bags inside and outside looking at the fabrics and the functions of each bag. We discussed why we liked or disliked each bag.
we had such a fantastic time at Formby learning how to build secure structures both on and off the ground. Lots of great problem solving!
The children made the finishing touches to their chairs this afternoon – there were some wonderful designs and plenty of hard work too!
We enjoyed making our own fruit salads. We followed the instructions we made and carefully chopped up the fruit. We took our fruit salads home to enjoy.
We have been building our own fairgrounds using pulleys applying our knowledge from Science.
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The class started making their chairs this afternoon, using cardboard, tape and lots of hard work!
We went to Formby to learn about levers, pulleys and gears. We had a fun day and we learnt very interesting facts.
The class used a variety of ‘attachment techniques’ this afternoon, practising the skills required to construct their chairs!!
We enjoyed tasting different fruits in class. We discussed the fruits we liked and disliked.
After researching different types of chair and their features, the children tried constructing their own using Lego sets!
In DT class 3 made mechanisms using paper and pins. We looked at different movements. We have enjoyed making mechanisms very much!
In DT we practised the running stitch using a needle and thread. We had to carefully sew around the edge of the fabric. We are looking forward to making our puppet. ?
The children worked hard again this afternoon, using a hacksaw to cut dowels to the correct length – these would act as axles on their vehicles!
As the class began to assemble their vehicles, the children displayed great sawing skills as they cut their axles!
The children worked diligently as they began using their designs to make their vehicles for our wheels and axles topic!!
The children worked well this afternoon to assemble their wheels and axles onto their vehicle body, even trying them out on the classroom floor!
The class began their DT topic this half term by researching wheels and axles, using Lego to make vehicles!! There were some wonderful examples!
We had a very busy day on Friday, we had a lovely morning in PE with Mr Lancaster, then we made our own sandwiches for snack they were so yummy!
We worked in small groups to find suitable pieces of wood – our task, to move a big log, sometimes with added weight on it!
