Art Curriculum Intent
The curriculum is planned and sequenced into yearly projects with the explicit teaching of skills running alongside. We make links between our wider projects and the teaching of Art and Design to enrich learning, support connections to develop across different areas of learning and to bring the curriculum to life with exciting opportunities. Our Art and Design projects are planned specifically with our children in mind, giving them an awareness of art in the world around them and broadening their minds by the study of artists from differing gender, eras and cultural backgrounds. Using the children’s starting points as a base from which to plan, we are aware of the emerging motor skills and data from Foundation Stage and hence, how the physical skills and technical aspects need to be built upon carefully each year to address these needs.
SEND children access the same inclusive curriculum in Art and Design and are encouraged to improve and revisit skills for long term memory. Art media is also used as a means of expression, exploration and sensory play for those with SEND.
Art Curriculum Implementation
Each year group has a set of progressive skills developed by all staff from F1 to Year 2. Around these, art lessons have been designed and based on wider year group projects. For example, manipulating clay with tools to make animals as part of a Science project on the structure of animals. Sequences of learning are planned in a way that children can build on and revisit knowledge and skills and apply what they have previously learnt. Lessons are designed to incorporate teacher modelling and questioning, experimenting with and exploring media and practical tasks where progress in skills is visible and expected. Teachers demonstrate passion in lessons about using art as a means of expression but are careful to recognise and teach the small steps. Sketchbooks are used in KS1 throughout the journey of children’s thinking and practice and are valued as a vehicle for not only finished pieces but also the processes towards these.
QFT is available to all children and reasonable adjustments are made for SEND when accessing Art lessons, for example, guidance and modelling and opportunities to practise.
Art Curriculum Impact
Our provision and delivery enables us to measure the impact of what we are teaching children; the way we teach skills help us to assess small steps of learning accurately. Our assessment records highlight children that are not meeting ARE. These children can then become our focus when we revisit knowledge and skills. In Art and Design, progress can be very visible in the work children produce, particularly technical skill and creativity. Appreciation and recognition of other artists and styles of art can be reflected on by the use of our ‘learning walls’ in every classroom. Always being visible and accessible, these displays promote conversations and questions between the teacher and children at any opportunity. The ‘flip book’ also generates recall about learning that has take place. Children talking about previous learning regularly really helps consolidate knowledge, question, share ideas with others, embedding and encouraging new learning. For example; a picture of a colour wheel promotes talk about colour mixing, primary and secondary colours, complementary colours. Children use their sketchbooks to show a ‘journey’ of their thinking and work. They feel confident to practise, try out ideas and make mistakes.
We make art accessible to all groups of children. We feel all children have the right to enjoy art and access opportunities at their own level and develop their own creativity. Art will mean different things to different children; for some it is expression, and for some, skill. We find for children with SEN and learning difficulties, art can be a real talent and we draw on this to promote self-esteem and celebrate different intelligences.
On Monday 7th October the whole school took part in an Art Day. The theme was 'Me, Myself and I' with each year group focusing on self-portraits. Each year group had a different focus of collaging, painting, drawing and printing, plus a different artist focus. All year groups understood how art can support mental health. Making time and space to be creative is one way in which we can positively impact our wellbeing. It was important that this was a running theme throughout the day and children were able to express their thoughts, feelings and emotions through art.
Nursery children had lots of fun linking their art to the picture book 'Marvellous Me' and created self-portraits using colourful collaged crepe paper and drawing self-portraits. Continuous provision activities were provided to enable the children to be curious and support the theme of self-portraits independently.
The reception classes focused on the collage artist Brianna McCarthy. The children created some fabulous collaged self-portraits and had an enjoyable time experimenting and being curious with collaging materials. Lots of fun was had and some fantastic artwork was created.
Pablo Picasso was a success for Year 1! The feedback from the Year 1 teachers was incredible and all children really understood Pablo Picasso’s vision of his abstract faces. The year 1 children were enthusiastic and created wonderful abstract faces using watercolours and oil pastels.
In Year 2 the children explored the contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. The children loved Yayoi’s repeating dotty patterns and vibrant colours. The day was a real success and the children experimented with printing dots in a variety of ways.