Intent

Our art curriculum is designed to provide our children with an art curriculum that is creative, reflective and impacts positively on the children’s needs. We recognise that art touches every part of our daily lives and as such we give the teaching and learning of art the prominence that it deserves.
Our curriculum is designed to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, whilst equipping them with the knowledge and skills to be able to experiment, invent and create their own works of art.

As artists, our curriculum encourages children to:

• be able to comment on works of art from a range of artists, using visual language, for example pattern, colour and shape
• develop the ability to use a range of materials and techniques to express meaning
• develop the ability to draw confidently from observations, memory and imagination
• have a passion for art

We’re committed to ensuring continuity and progression across all year groups, tailoring learning to cater to the needs of all pupils and fostering an inclusive environment. Artistic vocabulary is carefully woven through our curriculum as a foundation for developing a rich understanding of art.

Implementation

Our art curriculum is based on the National Curriculum and features a spiral structure, ensuring continuity and skill progression:

• Spiral Curriculum: Drawing is taught in every unit, and painting is covered each year, allowing pupils to build skills and improve on prior learning. Each year, an additional element, such as sculpture or printing, is developed. During the spring term, we celebrate World Art Day, exploring a new medium not on the year’s long-term plan.
• Carefully Planned: Our curriculum is designed with consideration for mixed-age classes, ensuring all pupils receive a rich and balanced art education.
• Vocabulary Rich: We prioritise developing subject-specific vocabulary, helping children articulate and understand key art concepts.
  Inspiration-Driven: Each topic begins with inspiration from a renowned artist, encouraging pupils to think and create like artists.
  Links with other subjects: When possible, we connect art lessons with subjects like history or science for a well-rounded learning experience.
• Holistic Approach: Our curriculum combines practical, theoretical, and disciplinary knowledge for a complete art education.

Special Education Needs in Art & Design

Although a child may have been identified as having a special educational need, they may not have a special educational need in art. Within Art, we aspire to create inspiring, explorative lessons linked to engaging topics across the curriculum. We strive to maintain an inclusive learning environment, working with additional adults and using multi-sensory approaches, including the use of technology, to explore and create, allowing pupils to express ideas and develop them.

When planning, we take into account pupils’ needs and celebrating individual expression, promoting positive attitudes. We set suitable learning challenges to overcome potential barriers to learning and assessment and modify the curriculum to remove barriers, so all pupils meet the same objectives.

Throughout a sequence of lessons, we continue to develop adult-pupil communication to motivate, question, challenge and assess all children. The revisiting of techniques and processes helps to build skills and consolidate these to long term memory for our children’s progression into Key Stage 3. From an early age, we encourage our children to reflect on their own and others’ work, encouraging the use of specific terminology.

Impact

Children develop each concept over time and it takes a two-year period to get to a deeper level of understanding at the appropriate age. For example, in Years three and five, children will have a basic understanding of art at an age-appropriate level, but by revisiting this they should have a deeper level of understanding and have developed their skills by Years four and six.
Progression in their work as artists is shown in their sketch books.

Through the explicit teaching of skills in art, both the teachers and the pupils assess their learning continuously throughout the lesson. Teacher judgements are based upon a triangulation of work across sketchbooks, final pieces and teacher observation of the children’s work within the classroom.

The impact and measures of the above are to ensure that the children not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge linked to the art curriculum, but also to embrace and nurture a love of art which has been fostered within school, to encourage a strong sense of creativity, reflection and exploration within the children for today and as they continue through their academic journey and potential future job prospects.