INTENT

At Wittering Primary School (WPS), our intent for Art & Design coincides with the National Curriculum:

Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should 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. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation. (National Curriculum 2014)

The national curriculum for art and design aims to ensure that all pupils:

• produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
• become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
• evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
• know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Art & Design at WPS aims to introduce pupils to a wide variety of artistic disciplines and techniques whilst practising the three core skills of drawing, painting and sculpting. Through practical demonstration by teaching staff, and examples from a variety of established artists from different backgrounds, pupils will be given time (1 lesson per week every other term, trading off with Design Technology) to develop their creative skills to gain a baseline confidence which they can take further in later school years or their free time as hobbies. Pupils will also be given opportunities to consider the meaning of other people’s artwork, as well as planning out finished pieces of their own. The latter, however, is informed by teacher judgement, as if more time to practise key skills is required instead of a larger finished piece, then the time would be better spent doing so. Pupils are encouraged to be resilient in this way, as it is only through patience and perseverance that skills improve, so children are encouraged to adopt a growth mind-set with regards to their art, and to be responsible with materials they use.

 

As our curriculum continues to evolve, opportunities for pupils to collaborate with one-another, a key aspect of modern art and entertainment, will also become more prevalent.

As such, Art & Design is taught in a manner to align with the overall school values (belonging, community, creativity, equality, resilience and responsibility) and aims to enrich pupils’ lives through both helping them develop their own skills and greater appreciate the world around them.

Equal opportunities

All children attending Wittering Primary School will have access to the Art & Design curriculum irrespective of race, religion or special educational needs.

IMPLEMENTATION

EYFS

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, the Early Learning Goal is:

• to safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, form and function.

Key Stage 1

Pupils should be taught:

• to use a range of materials creatively to design and make products
• to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination
• to develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space
• about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.

Key Stage 2

Pupils should be taught to develop their techniques, including their control and use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.

Pupils should be taught:

• to create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
• to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials (for example pencil, charcoal, paint, clay)
• about great artists, architects and designers in history.

Delivery of the curriculum

Teaching staff will use the Curriculum Overview and Unit Front Covers (as created by the subject lead) to produce short-term planning, therefore ensuring there is a clear progression of skills and expectations throughout the school. These short-term plans will, at times, also be cross-curricular to facilitating a rounded and broad approach to the learning process.

Children will receive background information about the period of art history, other world events at the time which may have influenced the art, relevant and notable artists and the media being used before embarking on creation and production - looking at copies of artwork, watching video clips, modelled examples, etc. Staff will ensure the children have a full understanding of who, how, why, where, what they are expected to create.

Wherever possible, for increased stimulation and enhancement, experts/craftspeople/artists will be invited into school to demonstrate, talk and inspire creativity. Alternatively, visits will be arranged to relevant locations to facilitate this.

Children will be consistently encouraged to evaluate their own and others’ work.

Children in Key Stage 2 will use A4 sketchbooks for their initial thoughts, ideas, sketches, swatches or pictures. These, once designated to a child and labelled, should be kept in the children’s files.

IMPACT

The 3 key skills of drawing, painting and sculpting are what is emphasised most in the National Curriculum so by revisiting these skills with each subsequent years, children will be able to keep improving and be able to take these skills further if they so wish.

As in all other areas of the curriculum, assessment is an integral part of the learning process. Teachers will use their daily diaries to report on Art & Design lessons, as to monitor coverage, and the resulting children’s learning.

Teachers may photograph and display work where appropriate, and a range of pieces (including preparatory work in KS1) will be retained in yellow folders in hanging files as a record of progression. Displayed work can be within the classroom, or on each class’s display area around the school, if the teacher chooses to use Art as their display subject.

Going forward, teachers will be able to use a simple assessment matrix (provided by the subject lead), via children’s bookwork and their own judgement, of whether pupils have made effort and progress with skills for each unit. Combined with pupil voice and sketchbook checks later in the year, this will allow the subject lead to monitor coverage and the impact of teaching across the school.

As per the latest pupil voice (February 2024), pupils continue to enjoy Art & Design and say that they feel more confident with the skills/artistic disciplines they’ve learnt about.

Primarily, sketchbooks will be the foremost evidence for pupils’ learning and should ideally demonstrate the repeated practising and application of skills over time. Through their consistent use throughout KS2, pupils will become more confident in their usage, which will carry on into common practices in secondary school, art colleges, etc. where sketchbooks are used similarly.

Children’s progress in Art & Design is also reported to parents through the individual pupil annual report and parent consultation meetings.