Art and Design
Intent
At St Francis we aim for our art curriculum to develop creativity, engage and inspire and equip our children with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art and design. They will develop the skills to be able to think critically about pieces of art and design, including their own work. Through gaining knowledge of a diverse range of famous artists, they will develop an understanding of how art and design both reflect and shape our history and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
We intend to do this by the children:
- Learning how to design
- Learning the skills of drawing, collage, printing, painting and sculpture
- Using research and sketches as aides for their own work
- Using a variety of materials
- Evaluating art and building knowledge of artists and art movements
Implementation
Our Art curriculum is delivered as three clear units for each class each year, with additional themed weeks, visits and visitors. The units are taught following our school long-term plan to ensure a clear progression of artists, genres, skills, questioning, vocabulary, final outcomes and evaluation. We ensure coverage of the National Curriculum objectives, aided by the structure of The Learning Challenge Curriculum. This has been used to create our own bespoke curriculum by considering the school’s context, pupils’ cultural capital and the locality of the school. Our curriculum is built on sequencing knowledge and skills (to include substantive and disciplinary knowledge) and building on prior learning. It is clear what we want our pupils to be able to do, know and remember by the time they leave. We use an enquiry-approach methodology so that questions are predominant in the units of work covered.
The same skills and concepts are explored in a wide range of topics, so pupils will return to them more than once, and gradually build a greater confidence and understanding of them. Where appropriate links are made to other curriculum areas.
Our objectives in the teaching of art and design are:
- To enable children to produce creative work, by exploring their own ideas, recording their experiences and encouraging experimentation.
- To develop the skills of our children so they can become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art and design techniques.
- To improve the children’s ability to analyse creative works using a range of key vocabulary.
- To develop children’s ability to evaluate artwork, by expressing opinions and feelings about their own work and that of others.
- To develop knowledge of great artists and designers and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.
- To nurture and develop children’s enthusiasm for and enjoyment of this subject.
Art and Design Progression of Skills
National Curriculum Programmes of Study for Art and Design
Impact
Student Voice 'I am proud of learning to mix primary and secondary colours when I painted superheroes.' 'I liked hand printing in my lesson.' 'I like Art because I can be creative in any way I want.' 'I like Art because it is so much fun.' 'My favourite Art lesson was when we learnt how to sketch a face.' 'I usually enjoy my Art lessons because they are fun and we do creative things.' 'Please can we do more Art because it makes everyone happy, thank you!'
Useful links
