'Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.' Proverbs 22:6
Art and Design
Intent
At St Nicholas’ we emphasise Art and Design is a way for children to extend their skills and express themselves in a creative, imaginative manner through continuous exploration.
We believe children should be able to explore their own thoughts and ideas confidently to develop their resilience and critical thinking skills whilst using a wide range of media and exposure to subject specific vocabulary.
We aim to instil a love of art, craft and design through an exciting curriculum which inspires and challenges our pupils to create their own works of high-quality art. They are taught in an environment where it is safe to make mistakes and where they are encouraged to develop their resilience when exploring different techniques. We aim to ensure that our pupils have the confidence to express themselves in a creative and imaginative manner when responding to artwork, ideas and experiences. We wish to set the foundations for a lasting love of learning in art and design and therefore provide our pupils with ample opportunities at each stage of their development to explore different styles, artists and techniques, inspiring them to have trust in their own methods and styles which are nurtured by high-quality teaching of art and design.
Implementation
To ensure a high-quality art and design education, we implement a skills and knowledge based curriculum which has been designed to develop our pupil’s competence in handling tools and equipment and to become proficient in various techniques. A variety of approaches are used within each class and teachers refer to the progression of skills and knowledge documents to ensure that the objectives taught remain progressive throughout school. It gives them the opportunity to create artwork with a real purpose through line, tone, texture, colour, pattern, shape, 3D form. As the children progress through these techniques, they should be able to think critically and develop a more accurate understanding of Art and Design. They will also be able to reflect on how Art and Design shapes our history and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of society. We ensure that through learning about artists linked to specific art forms, exploring and developing ideas from knowledge learnt. We do this best through a mixture of whole-class teaching and individual/group learning. Using mini plenaries to show case good examples of individual performance as models to support and inspire the other children. Sketchbooks are used from Year 1 onwards as a way to explore, develop, record and evaluate their observations, ideas and techniques. The sketchbooks will move up with the children to provide a record of progression and skills covered. They also evaluate the work of their peers, giving constructive feedback on what they think and feel about each other’s work. We give children the opportunity within lessons to work on their own and collaborate with others, on projects in two and three dimensions and on different scales. Children also have the opportunity to use a wide range of materials and resources, including ICT.
Impact
Children’s work in art and design is observed during lessons allowing teachers to provide feedback instantly. Children are encouraged to assess and evaluate both their own work and that of other pupils in a respectful and compassionate manner. This helps them to appreciate how they can improve their work, and what their targets should be for the future. Their sketchbooks provide teachers with the opportunity to assess their progression of skills and knowledge throughout the year and will be used when making judgements at the end of each academic year. It is not expected that teachers write in sketchbooks but may provide verbal feedback at the time. The art and design subject leader keeps evidence through floor books and digital media. This demonstrates the expected level of achievement in art and design for each year group.
Policy
