Intent
Art & Design allows children to express visually their understanding and meaning of the world around them. It provides them with opportunities to develop a range of ways in which they can share and express their individual creativity. Art & Design is an essential part of a child’s education since it equips a child with ability to make attempts, without fear of making a mistake. It teaches a child to face challenges without focusing on the wrong or right answer, develop and extend skills, and consider their own ideas, interests, and thoughts.

We encourage children to use their creativity and imagination, to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts. We also aim to make links to designs and designers throughout history, providing opportunities for children to critically reflect upon and evaluate their designs.

Art contributes to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. The focus is in developing proficiency in drawing, painting, understanding colour and shade and sculpture. Therefore, it is our intention to provide children with experiences which allow them to access a range or medias, materials, and techniques as well as exposing them to an expanse of artistic movements both present and past to encourage, inspire and enthuse them.

With the overall aim of developing a rigorous understanding, critical awareness and inspiration of art and design.

Implementation
The curriculum has a strong emphasis on the learning of knowledge of artists from different time periods, in different countries and using different mediums. This enables links to other curriculum areas, including humanities, with children developing a considerable knowledge of individual artists as well as individual works and art movements within their geographical and historical contexts. A balanced focus on skills ensures that children are given opportunities to express their creative imagination, as well as practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles and sculpture. An enquiry based approach across the school encourages the children to ask questions about the art work in front of them, to discuss what they observe, analyse skills and techniques and to critique using a considered perspective.

In Design through a variety of creative and practical activities, we teach the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an interactive process of designing and making. When designing and making, the school uses a standardised planning format to ensure the pupils are familiar with the design cycle:

Design – use research and develop design criteria to design for a purpose and communicate their ideas through a range of mediums.

Make – use a wider range of tools and equipment with accuracy and use a wider range of materials and components according to their qualities

Evaluate – evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work

Through this process, the aim is to develop the pupils’ technical knowledge and vocabulary in relation to structural design, mechanical and electrical systems, the integration of technology and food production and nutrition.

Each class in school keeps their own Art & Design Sketchbook which records responses to art and design, photos of work produced.

Impact
The impact of our Art and Design Curriculum is that it equips us to be risk takers, evaluators and reflective and engaged learners. We will have a good knowledge of art and culture, will have developed individual preferences and made choices which will have a positive life-long impact on our responses to creativity.

To view the Curriculum Overview click here.