Art
Intent
Vision and Core Purpose:
Our Art curriculum aims to develop creative, confident and curious artists who are inspired to explore, experiment and express their ideas through a range of artistic media, techniques and styles. We want children to develop a lifelong appreciation of art and understand that art can be used as a powerful means of communication, self-expression and exploration.
Our curriculum provides children with opportunities to explore a diverse range of artists, artistic styles, cultures and creative approaches, enabling them to develop their own ideas and responses. Children are encouraged to take creative risks, experiment with materials and techniques, reflect on their work and make improvements.
The curriculum has been designed to ensure that artistic skills and knowledge are revisited and developed progressively through a cyclical approach. Children regularly return to key skills, building on prior learning and increasing their confidence, independence and technical ability as they progress through the school.
We are committed to ensuring that all children, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, have equitable access to a rich and ambitious Art curriculum. Teachers adapt resources, processes, equipment and expectations where appropriate to enable every child to participate and experience success. Children are given different ways to explore and communicate their ideas, while maintaining high expectations for creativity, skill development and personal expression.
Implementation
Teaching Approach:
Art is taught through a bespoke whole-school curriculum, developed to meet the needs of our pupils and to provide clear progression in artistic knowledge and skills. The curriculum is organised so that children encounter a broad range of artistic styles, artists, media and techniques, while revisiting core skills throughout their primary education.
Lessons provide opportunities for children to observe, explore, experiment, practise, create and reflect. Teachers explicitly model techniques and processes before allowing children to apply and develop these skills independently. Children are encouraged to make choices about materials, techniques and creative outcomes, developing their confidence and independence as artists.
Learning is deliberately cyclical, with key skills being revisited across year groups and contexts. This allows children to retrieve prior knowledge, strengthen their technical understanding and progressively develop greater control and sophistication in their work.
Children experience a broad range of artistic media and materials, including drawing, painting, watercolour, charcoal, clay and Modroc. This breadth enables pupils to develop confidence with different tools and processes and discover the materials and techniques through which they can best express their ideas.
Teachers use questioning, discussion, demonstration, modelling and practical exploration to develop children's artistic vocabulary and understanding. Children are encouraged to talk about their own work and the work of other artists, explaining their choices and responding thoughtfully to artwork.
High-quality, age-appropriate art materials and equipment are used to support children's practical development. Children are encouraged to experiment with materials and techniques and to understand that experimentation, refinement and making mistakes are an important part of the creative process.
Where appropriate, learning is enhanced through links with the wider community and opportunities to experience art beyond the classroom, including visits, exhibitions, workshops, artists and creative experiences. These opportunities help children to understand the relevance of art within the wider world and expose them to artistic experiences that may otherwise be unfamiliar to them.
Impact
The impact of our Art curriculum is evaluated through the quality and development of children's work, their developing skills and their ability to articulate their artistic choices and understanding. We look for evidence that children are remembering and building upon previously taught knowledge and skills, becoming increasingly confident and independent in their creative practice.
Formative Assessment:
Formative assessment takes place continuously throughout lessons. Teachers use observation, questioning, discussion, modelling and professional judgement to identify children's understanding and development. Teachers assess how effectively children are applying taught techniques, using artistic vocabulary, making creative decisions and responding to feedback.
Teachers use their observations to adapt teaching, provide appropriate support or challenge and identify areas where children may need further opportunities to practise or revisit a skill.
Summative Assessment:
Summative assessment is informed through book looks, review of children's completed work and teacher feedback and judgement. Children's work is considered over time to identify progression in knowledge, skills, confidence and independence.
Book looks provide an opportunity to evaluate the development of individual and whole-class learning and to ensure that children are experiencing appropriate progression through the Art curriculum. Teacher judgements are informed by the range of work produced and the extent to which children can apply and revisit skills taught previously.
Assessment is therefore used not simply to measure the final artistic outcome, but to consider the development of the child as an artist, including their experimentation, application of skills, ability to reflect and willingness to refine and develop their ideas.
