Art Curriculum Statement

Artists explore ideas, record experience and to represent the highest forms of creativity!

Intent - What do we want for our children?

As with all subjects taught at All Saints', our school vision and school values are at the heart of our art curriculum.

At All Saints' we believe that art is a vital part of children’s education and has a significant and valuable role in the broad and balanced curriculum we offer our pupils. Art contributes to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. The art curriculum will develop children’s critical abilities and understanding of their own and others’ cultural heritages through studying a diverse range of male and female artists, spanning a range of artistic styles and periods in history.

Understanding of the visual elements of art and design (line, tone, texture, colour, pattern, shape, 3D form) will be developed by providing a curriculum which will enable children to reach their full potential. We teach an artists and skills-based art curriculum, which gives opportunities for children to express their creative imagination as well as practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, and sculpture, all whilst studying a range of noted contemporary and classical artists.

Our objectives in the teaching of art and design are:

• to enable children to record from first-hand experience and from imagination,
• to encourage children to select their own ideas to use in their work;
• to develop creativity and imagination through a range of complex activities;
• to improve the children’s ability to control materials, tools and techniques;
• to increase their critical awareness of the roles and purposes of art and design in different times and cultures;
• to develop increasing confidence in the use of visual and tactile elements and materials;
• to foster an enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts, and a knowledge of artists, craftspeople and designers;
• to develop the cross-curricular use of art and design in all subjects.

Implementation - How do we teach art?

At All Saints, we endeavour to use a variety of teaching and learning styles in art and design lessons with our principal aim being to develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding within the subject. Progression for our children might be knowledge of a new artist that pupils have been introduced to, it might be ideas recorded in their sketchbook or a new skill they have learned. Through our Art curriculum, children will be given the opportunity to develop their understanding of the visual language of art with effective teaching and considered sequences of lessons and experiences, including effective and insightful feedback, given immediately, allowing all children to make progress within a lesson, the unit and ultimately the subject.

We ensure that the act of investigating and making something includes exploring and developing ideas, and evaluating and developing work. We do this best through a mixture of quality first whole-class teaching. Teachers draw attention to good examples of individual performance as models for the other children, allowing the children to constantly be evaluating their own work and making decisions to develop their own learning as we encourage children to evaluate their own ideas and methods, and the work of others, and to say what they think and feel about them.

We give children the opportunity to work, by themselves and in collaboration with others, on projects in two and three dimensions, and at different scales. Children also have the opportunity to use a wide range of materials and resources.

Impact - How do we know our Art Curriculum is effective?

We ensure that children:

• develop creativity and imagination through a range of complex activities
• become confident to recognise and use a range of different medias
• develop their own thoughts and ideas, allowing them to develop pride in their artwork
• build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design, evaluate and critique their own work and ideas, as well as the work of others
• foster an enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts, and a knowledge of artists, craftspeople and designers

Children learn how to become independent thinkers and problem solvers, becoming resourceful, innovative, and evaluative artists. Through the analysis of contemporary and classic artists, children develop a critical understanding of its impact on entertainment, heritage and culture. We believe that high-quality art education makes an essential contribution to the creativity of children throughout their lives.

Sketchbooks 

Our primary source of evidence that show our children's development of Art is our sketchbooks, implemented from years 1 to 6. Sketchbooks are used to explore ideas, practice techniques, and for children to record their individual responses. Within these sketchbooks our children have focused on their journey (and thus their learning) throughout art units, rather than focussing on an end outcome.