Design & Technology
Students in Junior School receive discrete design lessons in the STEAM Hub from Reception to Year 6. Our exciting programme allows students to build their knowledge and experience of materials and equipment year on year.
We are very fortunate to have a custom-built design studio with state-of-the-art facilities, tools and equipment for all year groups.
Our equipment includes:
| Pillar drill | Band facer | Bandsaw |
| Buffer | Scroll saw | Bobbin sander |
| Hot wire strip heater | Hot wire sculptor | Vacuum former |
| CNC laser cutter | CNC vinyl cutter | 3D printer |
| CAD (computer aided design) suite with laptops | Virtual reality headset for CAD |
STEAM Lessons:
Students in Pre-Prep follow a scheme of work that develops their understanding and awareness of the world around us from a design and engineering standpoint. This starts with construction tasks using educational Lego sets including a Lego coding train. They then move on to solving engineering challenges which are posed through familiar folk tales and nursery rhymes.
Year 2 Students are taught about the use of pneumatics and hydraulics and they start to understand the use of electronic circuits with electro-conductive playdough.
Design Lessons:
In Years 3-6, students focus on the process of design and making and cover a range of topics which develop their fine motor skills, creative thinking abilities and understanding of materials and equipment. They make a range of interesting and exciting projects and in Year 4 they start developing their CAD (computer aided design) skills.
Junior Interdisciplinary Design Curriculum
Junior Interdisciplinary Curriculum
We are very excited by our Interdisciplinary curriculum at Talbot Heath and believe it to be amongst the most innovative in the UK.
To complement their Design lessons, Junior pupils take part in themed Junior Design Days which take an element of their Humanities topic and bring it to life with a practical, hands on activity day based around design and engineering.
Year 3 students learn about the genius of innovative ancient Egyptian engineering.
Year 4 students learn how important great engineering was to the success of the Roman Empire.
Year 5 students understand how the invention of the steam engine changed the culture in Britain, and how we are still benefiting from that today.
Year 6 students learn about Dorset’s pivotal role in the D-Day landings before creating their own version of the Mulberry Harbour (which is tested to the limit in our own swimming pool).
