Art & Design
“Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.”
Primary National Curriculum for Art and Design, 2014
ART & DESIGN CURRICULUM STATEMENT
At Alfriston Primary School, we wish to inspire, engage and challenge pupils by equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment and create their own works of art. As they move up through the school, children will build on their skills and develop an understanding of art and design over different times and cultures. We want to give children the opportunity to explore and develop their own creativity, seeing themselves as artists, as well as learning about a range of local and international artists, craft-makers and designers.
Our school follows the programmes of study from 2014 National Curriculum, which acts as guidance on what skills children should develop.
OUR CURRICULUM INTENT FOR ART & DESIGN
With these aspirations, our intentions for the Art & Design curriculum are:
- For children to produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
- To support children in becoming proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
- To develop skills that allow children to evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
- To gain important knowledge about great artists, craft-makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.
HOW WE IMPLEMENT OUR INTENTIONS
At Alfriston Primary School, teachers bring the art curriculum to life and engage children through a range of stimuli, including: key texts, famous artists and artworks and illustrations. We develop our Medium Term Plans drawing on artistic themes in the termly topics, making links with other subjects wherever possible, including: history, geography, Design & Technology, Computing, RE and English.
While there are opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each teaching unit, the planned progression built into the art curriculum means that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school. Links are made to termly themes and other curriculum subjects where appropriate and these are identified on the termly Curriculum Maps and individual Medium Term Plans. Long-term plans identify individual art units taught across the year group phases.
Children’s work is shared and celebrated consistently throughout the school through high quality displays, open afternoons and local art festivals ensuring that our artwork is celebrated as part of the community too.
The use of sketchbooks is embedded in our teaching of art as it promotes self-directed learning and demonstrates to children how their learning in art can be creative and is seen as a process which can lead to exciting outcomes. This focus on the ‘journey’ of a piece of art helps children see that the process is as important as the outcome.