Art

Intent

At Mercenfeld Primary School our art and design curriculum is designed to engage, inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to participate in, experiment with, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. Children will be empowered to think creatively and critically. They will investigate and evaluate a wide range of creative outcomes from the past and present to develop rigorous understanding of the many disciplines within art, craft and design and how they shape our past and future.

Implementation

Mercenfeld Primary Schools Art and Design curriculum is built around essential knowledge, understanding and key skills.  These are broken into year group expectations and show clear continuity and progress.  The children are taught Art as part of their termly topic work.  As a school and in accordance with the National Curriculum’s expectations, we aim 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.

Progression of skills across the school

Early Years Foundation Stage

Pupils explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. They have opportunities to learn to:

  • Explore the textures, movement, feel and look of different media and materials
  • Respond to a range of media and materials, develop their understanding of them in order to manipulate and create different effects.
  • Use different media and materials to express their own ideas
  • Explore colour and use for a particular purpose
  • Develop skills to use simple tools and techniques competently and appropriately
  • Select appropriate media and techniques and adapt their work where necessary

 

Key stage 1

Pupils are 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 are taught to further 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:

  • 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.

Impact

The impact of our art and design curriculum can be seen not only in our children’s sketch books but also through classroom displays and the school environment.  Everything we do is with the child in mind, and strong relationships are built between pupils and staff which create an atmosphere for learning which is conducive to success.  We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

  • Images of the children’s practical learning.
  • Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
  • Pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.