Our Intention
The teaching and learning of Art and Design at St.Thomas’ is based around a clear, coherent, and robust curriculum, that allows all learners to develop artistic skills and talents in a meaningful and progressive way, regardless of ability.
Children are provided with opportunities to explore, generate, and develop ideas, acquire new skills, and express themselves, whilst developing an understanding of the world around them. It also allows for children to develop their confidence to experiment with a variety of media and techniques.
Children are encouraged to work both collaboratively and individually, sharing skills and achievements. They are supported in becoming resilient, independent learners, working creatively and responsibly, and provided with opportunities to feedback on experiences based around their own learning. They are encouraged to develop their abilities, talents and interests, become confident in expressing ideas and opinions whilst learning about a culturally diverse range of artist and artisans, which they can carry forwards and apply into their future lives.
Implementation
We follow a broad and balanced Art and Design curriculum based on the ‘Kapow’ scheme of work for primary schools. It is a scheme that is highly practical, enabling and encouraging children to be experimental and exploratory, effectively building on their previous learning. It provides both support and challenge for learners, whilst adhering to the requirements of the National Curriculum.
All year groups from year one to year six will have a scheduled Art and Design lesson most weeks, in alternating terms with Design and Technology, covering five main skills strands: making, formal elements (e.g. line, shade, tone), knowledge of different artists and evaluation. Where possible, opportunities are taken to link these lessons to the wider curriculum or adapted accordingly, whilst ensuring the coverage of key skills. Children’s artistic work will be recorded and presented in a sketchbook, and where it is not possible to present this in the books (for example, collaborative projects) photographic evidence will be recorded for reference and assessment. We recognise that the skills learned through the subject of Art and Design should be, as far as possible, implemented in other areas of the curriculum. Children will be given opportunities to voice their opinions through questionnaires and help to inform teachers for future learning.
Find out more about the scheme at https://www.kapowprimary.com/subjects/art-design/
Impact
Our children enjoy and Art and Design and participate with interest and enthusiasm. Through involvement in evaluations and decision making, they become confident in the skills they are learning but also are equipped with an understanding of how to improve. Children understand and appreciate the value of art in the context of producing creative work, through which they can explore and record their ideas and experiences; become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other artistic techniques and evaluate and analyse the work of others, becoming more aware and informed about a diverse selection of artists and their cultural and historical impact. Progress in Art and Design is demonstrated through regularly reviewing, evaluating and scrutinising children’s work in accordance with our Art and Design assessment policy to ensure that progression of skills is taking place, with formal assessment at the end of each unit.
Our Art and Design curriculum will contribute to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, working collaboratively, judgement and self-reflection. This will be evident in them being able to talk confidently about their work, sharing their work and opinions with others and being proud of their achievements. Progress will be shown through judgement against outcomes and through the important record of the process leading to them.
