Art and Design
Our Art curriculum aims to inspire pupils and develop their confidence to experiment and invent their own works of art. It is designed to give pupils every opportunity to develop their ability, nurture their talent and interests, express their ideas and thoughts about the world, as well as learning about art and artists across cultures and through history.
Our curriculum supports pupils to meet the National curriculum end of key stage attainment targets in Key Stage 1 and 2. For EYFS, the activities allow pupils to work towards the ‘expressive arts and design’ Development Matters statements and Early Learning Goals, while also covering foundational knowledge that will support them in their further art and design learning in Key stage 1.
Each year, pupils cover three units of learning in art and design. Cross-curricular links are included throughout each unit, allowing children to make connections and apply their art and design skills to other areas of learning.
Our art curriculum is designed with five disciplinary strands that run throughout, supporting children to think like artists. These are: Generating ideas; Using sketchbooks; Making skills, including formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour); Knowledge of artists; and Evaluating and Analysing. Units of lessons are sequential, allowing children to build their skills and knowledge, applying them to a range of outcomes. The formal elements, a key part of the National Curriculum, are also woven throughout units. Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity. This allows pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Units in each year group are organised into four core areas: Drawing; Painting and mixed-media; Sculpture and 3D; and Craft and Design.
Creativity and independent outcomes are robustly embedded into our units, supporting students in learning how to make their own creative choices and decisions, so that their art outcomes, whilst still being knowledge-rich, are unique to the pupil and personal. Lessons are always practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with pupils using sketchbooks to document their ideas. Children are involved in evaluation, dialogue and decision making about the quality of their outcomes and the improvements they need to make. By taking part in our regular discussions and decision making processes, children will not only know facts and key information about art, but they will be able to talk confidently about their own learning journey, have higher metacognitive skills and have a growing understanding of how to improve.
Our Art and Design curriculum supports pupils to:
- Produce creative work, exploring and recording their ideas and experiences.
- Be proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques.
- Evaluate and analyse creative works using subject-specific language.
- Know about great artists and the historical and cultural development of their art.