Art and Design

Art Curriculum Intent

Link to National Curriculum Art and Design Programme of Study.  

Link to Art and Design Progression

Link to Art and Design Coverage

“Art is not just a subject to learn, but an activity that you can practise with your hands, your eyes, your whole personality.”                                                                                                      Quentin Blake

At All Saints School, our Art and Design education engages, inspires and challenges pupils while equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. Our Art and Design curriculum is taught as part of termly projects where children are taught artist skills and apply these in a cross-curricular and purposeful way. Although taught in a cross-curricular way, this does not weaken the focus on the development of artistic skills and knowledge which remain the focus of teaching within an Art and Design lesson. With art, craft and design being some of the highest forms of human creativity, we promote a range of different medium as part of our art and design curriculum. These include: painting, collage, sculpture, drawing, printing, textiles and digital media. Children will also learn about key artists in history and locally and learn how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. As children progress, they will be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design.

Units of work often start with teachers introducing a new and significant artist or piece of artwork whilst drawing on prior knowledge, skills and understanding. This is intended to ensure learning is more meaningful, and pupils’ ability to make links and draw comparisons with and between previous learning is strengthened. Typically, once children have closely observed, evaluated and analysed this piece of artwork children will learn, practise and have the opportunity to refine artistic skills and techniques relating to the medium taught. Children will then apply their knowledge and skills when designing, producing and evaluating their own work to reflect their understanding. Our Art and Design curriculum is carefully designed to ensure that children’s prior knowledge is revisited and built upon. As part of painting, children in Year 1 are taught about primary colours and experiment with mixing these to create secondary colours needed to produce a picture of a woodland creature. This knowledge is then revisited in Year 2 where the children mix primary colours as part of a colour match piece of art. Then in Year 5, children will learn that artists mix tints and shades of colour to show light, dark, colour brightness and intensity through their artwork. Children will show the dark and light areas of a chosen plant or flower, and colour intensity in their own pieces inspired by the artist Georgia O’Keeffe who is well known for her detailed flower paintings.

Differentiation

At All Saints School the Art & Design curriculum is ambitious and is designed to give all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEN and/or disabilities, the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. We use strategies from the NASEN guidance to support our scaffolding within the teaching of Art & Design. This includes, but is not limited to the following list;

• Sharing information visually as well as through discussion.
• Allowing sufficient talk time to encourage thinking and idea sharing.
• Key vocabulary clearly displayed and used repetitively throughout lessons &/or if more appropriate, word banks to be accessible to learners
• Introduce each piece of equipment – name it, explain what it does, model how it can be used or applied.
• Model processes on a step-by-step basis, allowing learners time to do practical tasks alongside the teacher. (Teachers’ thought processes are shared aloud.)
• Equipment used is fully accessible to all and adapted for individuals as necessary to ensure all can fully participate.
• Positioning of learners within the classroom to maximise their engagement.
• Some learners will benefit from working and interacting with selected others.
• A calm environment to help minimise distractions.
• Breaking the lesson into chunks if appropriate, allowing time for paired/group talk and allowing tasks to be completed across manageable stages.
• Giving time for learners to look back through their sketchbook to make connections to what they already know, which in turn can help nurture motivation.
• Have visual aids in the form of worked examples that the learners can have to hand when completing independent tasks.
• Allowing movement breaks if and when necessary.
• Using frames or adhesives (e.g., masking tape) to hold down learners’ work to surfaces in cases where learners may struggle to hold a resource in place.
• Provide learners with larger scale materials to work on and gradually decrease the scale as they acquire greater control.
• Encourage learners to experiment with different media, for example when drawing offer chunkier graphite sticks as well as soft ‘B’ range pencils. Similarly, offer a range of painting application media – some learners may prefer a sponge to a brush or may even use their fingers at times.
• Wider-handled or easy grip scissors can be a useful aid.
• Using malleable media such as clay or air dough to build fine motor skills for all children.

How can I support my child with Art and Design?

1. Be Creative

Try to give your children opportunities to use different types of drawing and painting resources at home to allow them to express themselves creatively and explore creating art using different materials. Paints, chalk, crayons, pens, pencils, modelling clay and much more can be found in discount shops.

2. Keep a Sketch Book

Encourage your child to keep a sketch book where they can record their art. This could include pieces of art which they have produced such as sketches and painting or could be used to scrapbook ideas which inspire them.

3. Celebrate your child's Art

Praise your child’s creations and encourage them not to get disheartened if they feel they have made ‘mistakes’. Explain that art is about being creative and trying out different things and that there is no right or wrong way to do things. You could even display their art around the house or create a gallery in their bedroom.

4. Discuss and Enjoy Art Together

We are extremely lucky to have local art galleries and museums that you could visit with your child. Encourage them to talk about what they see and to share their opinions about colours, tone, texture and the materials used.