Designs on primary schools

What went well? What could have been improved?

The teacher's view

I found the primary conference particularly helpful from a professional development point of view. It was inspiring to meet leading figures from the world of design and design education, and I took some excellent ideas back to school. Having the opportunity to take part in a workshop gave me useful insight into what to expect when I brought the class to the museum. Prior knowledge makes all the difference.

The workshop for the children was well organised but was very ambitious for year 1. Fortunately my class is able and responded well to the high expectations, coming up with some good ideas and taking away new knowledge of the design process. However, a key stage 2 group would have got more out of the experience.

I will definitely take children to the Design Museum again – just a different year group. The chair workshop would tie in particularly well with the QCA unit on chairs for year 4 children [QCA/DfES art and design scheme of work unit 4B: Take a seat]. I am also hoping to go to the next primary conference as I feel that this had a real impact on my teaching.

Design Museum’s view

The primary conference worked particularly well, serving the dual purpose of contributing to teachers’ professional development and enabling us to make new links with primary schools. We felt that using well-known speakers like Terence Conran helped us to bridge the gap between the worlds of design and education and encouraged teachers to see the wider picture.

The visit and workshop would have worked better with a key stage 2 group rather than a year 1 class. We will develop resources in line with this and target them at key stage 2 children.

The security of the three-year Deutsche Bank funding has enabled us to introduce new initiatives such as the primary conference, piloting primary resources and running a ‘Discovering the Design Museum’ day. We regularly write, fax and email Deutsche Bank schools, encouraging them to take up free CPD [continuing professional development] and key stage 3 and 4 visits and workshops (take-up is currently about 35 per cent). The Deutsche Bank network has also enabled us to get to know a wide range of other arts organisations and learn from their experiences. As a way of giving something back, we are now running and funding a project with one of the Deutsche Bank schools to develop a logo and letterhead for Deutsche Bank’s forthcoming citizenship conference, The London Challenge.