Intent
Our curriculum for art and design covers all areas of the national curriculum and has been written so that children can be creative and independent, as well as have freedom of expression and interpretation of what their own artwork is. We want all our children to enjoy art and experience success, understanding that there is no ‘wrong’ way to create art. Through art, we want out children to celebrate their differences as well as their individuality.
Learning in art and design starts in our EYFS, and all year groups cover three units of art per year: drawing, painting, and sculpture. In EYFS, painting includes printing, and sculpture includes naturalist art, collage and weaving, as forms of 3D art and craft.
The focus of each art and design unit is on developing the artistic knowledge and skills which can be applied to artwork creations. A simple breakdown of the key knowledge taught during each unit can be found in our long-term plan.
Each unit of our art curriculum systematically builds on knowledge and skills previously taught. Key vocabulary has been carefully considered and highlighted throughout our sequence of learning documents, which teachers use to plan their art and design lessons.
Key artists have also been chosen to feature in our art and design curriculum. These have been carefully selected due to the appropriateness of their artworks in supporting learning knowledge around a concept, e.g. weaving. Artists have also been included from different art periods and from all around the world in order to expose children to many different styles of art, and to enable them to develop an understanding of cultural influence on art.
Sequence Learning Samples
Nursery – Painting
Year 3 – Drawing
Year 5 – Sculpture
Implementation
In each of the art units taught each year, there should be evidence of:
- exploring and developing ideas
- investigating and making
- evaluating and developing work
Knowledge and understanding should also inform this process.
Exploring and Developing Ideas
- Record from first hand experience and imagination, and explore ideas.
- Ask and answer questions about the starting points for their work and develop their ideas.
- Collect visual and other information (e.g., images, materials) to help them develop their ideas using a sketchbook (sketchbooks are a requirement from KS2).
Investigating and making art, craft and design ideas
- Investigate the possibilities of a range of materials and processes.
- Develop their control of tools and techniques and apply these to materials and apply these to materials and processes, including drawing.
- Representing observations, ideas and feelings and to design and make images and artefacts.
Evaluating and Developing Work
- Compare ideas, methods, and approaches in their own and other’s work and say what they think or feel about them.
- Adapt their work according to their views and describe how they may develop it further.
Knowledge and Understanding
The children should be taught about:
- Visual and tactile elements, including colour, pattern, texture, line and tone, shape form and space.
- Materials and processes used in art,craft and design.
- Differences and similarities in the work of artists and crafts people working in different times and cultures. (sculptors, photographers, architects and textile designers)