Art and Design

Intent

At East Hunsbury Primary School, we  intend for our art curriculum to enrich our children’s experience of life aesthetically, culturally and personally. We believe that by appreciating and making art, children learn to express and value their unique voice and viewpoint of the world. This helps pupils understand themselves, their place in the world and gives them a sense of wellbeing; thereby helping to unlock their full potential and introducing children to the highest form of creativity.

We intend for our art curriculum to be aspirational, enabling and inclusive as well as:

  • Accessible,

  • Relevant,

  • Progressive,

  • Inspirational,

  • Challenging and

  • Enjoyable for all our children.

It is our intention that that our curriculum will equip the children with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.

We intend that our children will have the opportunity to enjoy Art and Design in its many forms and acquire the skills and technical vocabulary to critique and appreciate a range of artists from different periods, cultures and genres.

We intend for our curriculum to teach the children to think critically about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms and how they impact on our lives today.

Our Art Curriculum meets the expectations of the National Curriculum as set out below:

During KS1, children will be taught to:

  • Use a range of materials creatively to design and make products.

  • They will use drawing, painting and ceramics to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination.

  • They will study an artist in depth and be taught the language to describe the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines as well as making links to their own work.

  • Children will have the opportunity apply their drawing skills to illustrate a piece of work within the curriculum that has been brought up to presentation standard during each year.

During KS2, children will continue to build on, improve and develop:

  • Their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.

  • Their mastery of art and design techniques in drawing, painting and ceramics.

  • They will continue to be taught about and be inspired by the work of artist and craftspeople and will use what they have learnt to inspire and critically inform their own work.

  • Children will have the opportunity to apply their drawing skills to illustrate a piece of work within the curriculum that has been brought up to presentation standard during each year.

For further information about our art curriculum, please refer to the NPAT Aims and Principles documents and the Art Narrative.

 

Implementation Overview

At East Hunsbury Primary School, our art Curriculum is made up of three strands:

  • mastery in drawing, painting and sculpture, (including experience of other additional art forms and working with an artist in residence as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company project in Year 5),

  • illustration of work and

  • development of art appreciation, (including exploring prominent artworks and artists within the National Gallery’s collection as part of the Take One Picture project in Year 4).

The following high dividend-concepts have been identified as part of the art and design curriculum:

  • colour,

  • line,

  • tone,

  • texture,

  • pattern,

  • shape and form

  • composition

These strands form the ‘Big Ideas’ through which all art forms will be taught and teachers will make explicit reference to where children have met these concepts before in the curriculum.

 

Impact

At the end of our art curriculum, pupils will have a secure understanding of artistic skills and knowledge related to the six high-dividend concepts. Using this knowledge, they will be able to make meaningful connections between their work, the work of other artists and its context in the wider world. Pupils will have well-developed analytical skills which enable them to think critically, ask questions and articulate their understanding. They will be able to evaluate works of art, including their own, and use this appreciation to inform their own work. Pupils will be confident about experimenting, taking risks and solving problems when creating their work.

The impact of our curriculum will be assessed through a variety of methods including:

  • Weekly retrieval practise

  • Precise lesson outcomes

  • End of unit tasks

  • Learning walks

  • Book monitoring

  • Professional dialogue

  • Pupil voice and staff voice

Pupil attainment in art is recorded on Insight annually at the end of the summer term.

Art is taught in the first, third and fifth term of the school year. The teaching of art equates to 1 hour of teaching time per week but this time may be taken in a block within the unit. For effective planning, time is also utilised in the best way to ensure that relevant links are made between the art curriculum, the wider curriculum and enrichment opportunities.

Children are taught to master skills in drawing, painting and sculpture through a series of lessons which are cumulative in skill progression. The mediums for sculpture alternate yearly between ceramics and recycled materials. Children experience and explore other media, such as: printmaking, photography and textiles through opportunities in other areas of the curriculum e.g. DT or computing. Similarly, the skills taught through art are also linked to other areas of the curriculum, e.g. the drawing of historical buildings in history.

Our art curriculum is sequenced to ensure there is progression in learning throughout and that knowledge builds upon prior knowledge. We also ensure that relevant links are made within the art curriculum and across the wider curriculum. For example:

  • Horizontal links will be explicitly made e.g. the mark making that children complete in the art drawing units lead into brush control in the painting units. All painting units will also start with an observational drawing.

  • Vertical links will be made where knowledge and understanding are retrieved and built upon from previous art units e.g. in Year One, the children will be introduced to the concept of tone and making dark and light markings to three tonal values. In Year Two, this advances to four tonal values and by Year Three they will be marking to six tonal values.

  • Diagonal links will be made, particularly where this is cross-curricular e.g. in the Year Two drawing unit, the children will draw local landmarks which they have previously learnt about within history.

Our Art and Design Curriculum begins in the Early Years, particularly within their learning of Expressive Arts and Design. Children will begin their Art and Design journey in our Early Years by:

  • Using a range of small tools to mark make, including paintbrushes

  • Safely exploring a variety of materials and tools and techniques

  • Experimenting with colour, texture, form and function

  • Sharing their creations and explaining the process they have used

  • Holding a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing

  • Beginning to show accuracy and care when drawing

The curriculum builds on from the Early Years and is implemented following a sequential process which starts with children learning to observe the world around them. Pupils are taught the skills of observational drawing and collate their ideas in a sketchbook, in readiness to present their ideas creatively and proficiently through the medium of drawing, painting and sculpture. Children are then given the opportunity to apply their drawing and painting skills to illustrate pieces of work throughout the curriculum.

Within Key Stage 2, pupils refine their techniques, including their control and use of materials. They continue to be taught about and be inspired by the work of artists and use what they have learnt to inspire and critically inform their own work.

The NPAT trust has a unique and enduring partnership with the National Gallery and participates in the annual ‘Take One Picture’ project. This is a national project focussing on a painting from the National Gallery. Through this partnership, all Year 4 teachers have training with artists and curators from the National Gallery about the history of the featured painting and artist and techniques that could be used to engage and inspire the children. All children will have the opportunity to visit the National Gallery in Year 4 to further enhance their knowledge and understanding of the work of artists at first hand. The children’s work, in response to the ‘Take One Picture’ project, is exhibited alongside other NPAT schools, which is open to schools, parents and pupils to view. The work is then reviewed by the National Gallery in the prospect that it may be chosen for their School’s Exhibition.

During their time in school, the children across all year groups explore prominent artworks and artists within the National Gallery collection. To deepen their understanding, they compare and contrast artworks created at different times and in different cultures, using different techniques and influences.

The British Values of Democracy, Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect and Tolerance are actively promoted at East Hunsbury Primary and are threaded throughout the Art curriculum to provide opportunities for children’s further understanding.

Individual Liberty

Children are encouraged to develop individual responses, informed and inspired by the world around them. They are encouraged to make creative decisions and take risks in a supportive environment. Children are encouraged to express their opinions, critiquing work by other artists as well as their peers, whilst respecting the opinions of others around them.

Mutual Respect

Children regularly discuss the work of their peers, as well as other artists, in lessons. They are taught how to talk about another students’ work, demonstrating kindness and empathy, in order to build a safe and open forum, founded on mutual respect. They are also taught how to provide constructive criticism to help each other make progress, without negative judgement.

Democracy

Children are taught to respect each other’s right to have an opinion and encouraged to give feedback about topics and projects to help inform future planning.

Tolerance

Throughout the art curriculum journey, children are exposed to a diverse range of artists from different nationalities, backgrounds and beliefs from around the world.

The Rule of Law

Children are taught to respect each other and the workspace they are in. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for the equipment and materials they use, treating it respectfully and return it without damage at the end of a lesson. Children are taught that the creative arts can lead to careers, no matter what their background.

The protected characteristics are actively promoted throughout our curriculum to ensure that pupils have an age-appropriate knowledge and understanding of the nine protected characteristics. Our curriculum, including art, ensures that, as a school, we:

  • Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010.

  • Provide equality for all.

  • Foster good relations between persons.

Through creating their own works of art, children can explore their unique voice and perspective of the world, building self-esteem, self-knowledge and self-confidence.

Through studying a diverse range of artists and their works, children learn respect for their own and other cultures, as well as an acceptance of different faiths or beliefs, which should be accepted and tolerated, and an understanding of the importance of identifying and combating discrimination.

Through taking part in projects and seeing their work displayed in public, they have an understanding of how they can contribute positively to school and home life and to the lives of those living and working in the locality and further afield.

At East Hunsbury Primary School, we ensure that every child has what they need to succeed within art. Our Art Curriculum is ‘inclusive by design’. It is our ambition for all our pupils to access the full art curriculum and quality first teaching enables this. Support for pupils with SEND or disadvantaged pupils is given by careful individual and/or group support to secure the knowledge and skills they need to access our art curriculum.

At East Hunsbury, we provide opportunities to deepen the learning of our children beyond the art curriculum by linking with our education teams. For example, through working with our ‘Careers and Aspirations’ Team, children can see the potential opportunities and experiences available to them within an art specialism.

  • As part of the Take One Picture project in Year 4, the school offers the opportunity for an Art Student from the University of Northampton to work in school as an Artist in Residence one day a week for a block of 6 weeks. The AIRs work alongside the class teacher planning, delivering lessons and working with small groups of children, focussing on their specialist area, be it textiles, sculpture or drawing. The art students present a selection of their work and talk through their process with the children, giving them an insight into what being an art student entails and the different modalities available.

  • In Year 5, the children work with a professional artist as part of the Shakespeare project. This will be exploring a new technique outside of the usual curriculum, such as felting, batik, printing, relief work. The children work for a whole day with the artist to produce a final piece for display enhancing their exploration of the study text for that year, as well as experiencing the wider art curriculum.

Our Art Curriculum teaches our children the skills and knowledge they need alongside the confidence and aspiration to become BRILLIANT artists.