At St John's CE (VC) Primary School we want every child to be happy and enthusiastic learners of Art and Design, and to be eager to achieve their very best in order to fulfil their God-given talents. We firmly believe that the recipe for success is high-quality first-wave teaching in Art and Design, which is central to the life of our happy, caring school.
Intent – What we are trying to achieve?
- Our principal aim is that children leave St John's CE (VC) Primary School with a wide range of happy and rich memories in Art and Design formed through interesting and exciting experiences driven by structured lessons that enhance a child’s awareness of their own abilities and strengths as a learner; thus ensuring that children see learning in Art and Design as an ongoing process, not a one-off event.
- Children will meet the National Curriculum expectations in Art and Design, which will be taught by highly-enthusiastic, qualified staff who will support children to develop mastery of concepts and inspire enthusiasm and interest in Art and Design.
- Opportunities will exist for children of all ages to experience learning beyond the classroom. This will allow them to enrich their knowledge by, for example, visits to art galleries, artists/designers visiting the school, historical places of artistic relevance, local craft workshops/exhibitions such as the Potteries museums and World of Wedgewood, architectural places of interest
- Children will develop a deep understanding of the Art & design they are studying. They will increasingly use their prior knowledge to solve problems and develop the sophistication of art & design.
- Children will understand how our school's values and British Values relate to Art & design.
- In Art & Design, children will develop the skills and knowledge to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
- Children will develop the skills to be able to think critically and develop a rigorous understanding of Art & design.
- Children will develop a real understanding and appreciation of the world learning from the best that has been developed and said. For example, Picasso, Monet, and David Hockney.
- Children will know how art & design both reflect and shape our history and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
Scheme of Learning
- The Scheme of Learning follows the National Curriculum. It allows for appropriate sequencing and aims to secure long-term memory as well as the enjoyment of learning in Art and Design.
- We have a strong focus on the use of sketchbooks which allows children to develop their ideas and practice the necessary skills. Therefore, the progression of skills for our school provides high-quality art and design education to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
- The key areas of art and design silks and knowledge are developed along with informed knowledge about artists; these key areas are developed throughout to enable pupils to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
Implementation – How do we translate our vision into practice?
- The curriculum hours in Art & design are non-negotiable and will be followed by all staff in the school. Fixed timetables will be set before the academic year and monitored by the Senior Leadership Team of the school.
- Art & design specialists from our partner secondary school, are and will continue to be integral to the planning process. This will aid the transition to Key Stage 3.
- The Subject Leader for Art & design will meet the Senior Leadership Team to evaluate provision in order to ensure that teaching and learning in Art & Design is outstanding. Where necessary, staff will receive coaching and training in Art & Design.
- Carefully designed schemes of learning in Art & design ensure consistency and progress of all learners.
- Art & Design is taught individually but plays a key role in the achievement of the learning. For example, a focus on the local housing market could include, after visiting an actual show home, children designing their own interior and presenting this to an interior designer.
- Success criteria in every Art & design lesson are set in order to guide children to achieve their potential. This ensures work is demanding and matches the aims of the curriculum.
- High-quality teaching responds to the needs of children. Spaced learning is a key focus of all formative and summative assessments with teachers actively marking work in lessons in order to identify misconceptions early.
- High-quality input from experts and educational resources complement the delivery of specialist learning admirably. Children understand how Art & design is used in the wider world including careers.
- High-quality teaching will develop their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting, and sculpture with a range of materials for example, pencil, charcoal, and paint clay.
- Children will use sketchbooks to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas, recording their ideas through drawing, writing and photography.
- Children will learn about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.
Assessment
- Each lesson will include live marking (as per the Marking and Feedback Policy). Work will be marked/evaluated fortnightly following the Marking and Feedback Policy.
- Homework is not formally set in Art and Design but children are encouraged to take part in enrichment opportunities such as: reading about Art and Design, watching programmes and visiting places of interest so that they know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development.
- High-quality teaching responds to the needs of children. Spaced learning is a key focus of all formative and summative assessments with teachers actively marking work in lessons in order to identify misconceptions early.
- An assessment grid is used to formally record an overview of the progress of each child.
Cultural Capital
Children will learn about key figures from Art ranging from Van Gogh to Kandinsky to Pollock.
They will also experience the following during Key Stage 1 and 2:
- Have the opportunity to use specialist teaching faculties for Art and Design within our feeder high school setting
- Undertake a hands-on workshop experience with an Artist/Designer
- Visit at least one local and one national Art Gallery
- Through visits and visitor experience become increasingly familiar with Art and Design career opportunities available in the workplace.
Impact – What is the impact of our curriculum on the students?
- Children are happy learners in Art & Design. They experience a wide-ranging number of learning challenges in the art and know appropriate responses to them.
- Through Art & design, children deepen their appreciation of their faith and fulfil their God-given talents.
- Visits within Art & design have enriched the lives of the children and they are able to discuss how the experience impacted their knowledge and understanding.
- Children of all abilities and backgrounds achieve well in Art & Design, reflected in outstanding progress that reveals a clear learning journey. Children talk enthusiastically about their learning in Art & Design and are eager to further their learning in the next stages of their education.
- There is a proven track record of test success that reflects the impact of deep learning.
- Clear outcomes focus and guide all Art & design development plans and drive improvement.
- Children are confident, resilient, and actively engaged in the wider society.
- Fundamental British Values are evident in Art & Design and children understand how Art & design can celebrate differences.
- Children will develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line shape, form and space, experimenting with and refining their use of different materials.
- Children will be able to write/think and talk about art (in terms of the formal elements colour, line, tone, shape, pattern, and texture) and be able to record their ideas (drawing from observation).
- Children will become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques, producing creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences. They will be able to evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design.
- Children will be able to develop ideas from looking at the work of others and famous pieces of artwork giving opinions. They will develop the key skills of commenting, adapting, exploring, collecting and responding.
- Through wider reading in Art & design, children will know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development in their art forms. Through this exposure, children will produce work that is influenced by the best of the best.
- Children will be familiar with the opportunities available in the workplace in terms of Art & design such as in graphic design, fine art, photography, fashion/textiles and Spatial design.
- Children will develop higher level thinking skills and skills for the workplace such as sustained focus/problem-solving/creativity/resilience