Art

Art at Prince Rock

Intent: Why do we teach what we teach?

At Prince Rock, our objective is that all our children develop a clear knowledge and understanding of what art is and the variety of concepts within it. We aim to teach a range of knowledge and skills that will equip our children to be able to use their creativity to express themselves through their artwork. We also aim to demonstrate how these skills can then be applied to a wider world context such as creating their own art exhibitions for the community to view.

The United Curriculum for Art provides all children, regardless of their background, with;

Entitlement - Regardless of their starting point, the curriculum allows pupils to produce creative work, to explore ideas and develop the confidence to excel in a broad range of artistic techniques. All pupils will learn about artists and cultures from across history and the world.

Coherence - Taking the National Curriculum as its starting point, the curriculum is sequenced from Early Years to key Stage 2 and beyond so that the pupils gradually develop and build their practical knowledge, including the formal elements, the use of a range of materials in two and three dimensions, and the techniques required to produce artwork. Theoretical and disciplinary knowledge is sequenced so that pupils build a deeper understanding across key stages.

Mastery - All pupils will be explicitly taught about the formal elements - colour, form, line pattern, shape, texture and tone - and other aspects of knowledge in small steps. Pupils will revisit, develop and apply their skills with increasing technical proficiency.

Adaptability - Our Art curriculum is designed to give teachers flexibility, allowing them to select and adapt resources for their specific context. Art is brought to live for the pupils by supplementing it with artists from their local area.

Representation - The Art curriculum provides children with the opportunity to explore historical and contemporary artists and artworks, who represent their own and others' cultures, values and beliefs. We will explore the context in which art was produced, and consider the full breadth of human experience and expression through art.

Education with Character - We aim to build and maintain pupils' confidence in their ability as artists to create. The curriculum will develop aspects of character such as resilience, confidence and risk-taking. Through the curriculum, pupils are given opportunities to share, reflect and learn about each other's experiences whilst recognising the things we have in common.

Implementation

The implementation of the United Curriculum for Art & Design reflects our broader teaching and learning principles:

Content is always carefully situated within existing schemas. Every unit considers the prior knowledge that is prerequisite for that unit and builds on that knowledge to develop a deeper understanding of that concept. For example, pupils are not expected to be able to produce a representational drawing until after they have explored a range of drawing materials and have had the opportunity to experiment and create using a range of materials, techniques and processes.

Vertical concepts are used within lessons to connect aspects of learning. In Art & Design, this is most clearly evidenced in the progression of knowledge and skills linked through the formal elements (line, tone, space, shape, form, colour, pattern and texture). These building blocks of the subject offer opportunities for pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding as well as their practical skills.

Disciplinary knowledge is explicitly taught to pupils and carefully sequenced to ensure pupils are provided with opportunities to practice these skills throughout the curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to engage with big questions about the meaning and purpose of art, as well as exploring the concept of creativity in both a theoretical and very practical way. Our purpose is to allow our pupils to see themselves as artists by developing their innate creativity through building their confidence in knowledge, understanding and skill.

The following road map shows the units being covered by each year group.

The following table shows when each unit is being taught.

The United Curriculum for Art and Design has been adapted by considering the context of our pupils and the community. Pupils learn about local artists and their work, both past and present.

All children from years 1-6 will use a sketchbook to record ideas and observations.

EYFS

In the EYFS, children have regular opportunities to engage with, and learn about, the arts through Expressive Arts and Design (Both 'Creating with Materials' and 'Being Imaginative and Expressive'). They learn how to create purposeful marks and use line to create form. They will use paint, pencils, brushes and other media to create, in order to reflect both what they can see and what they can imagine. Examples of the children's art work are regularly added to the EYFS learning journey.

Key Stage One

In Key Stage 1 the children will learn to use a range of different materials and skills. They will draw, paint, collage, print and sculpture materials to develop techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form, and space.

In Yr1 Summer, pupils have the opportunity to explore the natural environment around their school building and record their findings using art techniques.

In Yr2 Autumn, pupils explore their school environment and consider the work of designers and architects in relation to their own built environment.

Key Stage Two

In Key Stage 2 the children will learn to improve their mastery of art and design techniques by learning specific drawing, painting, printing and sculpture techniques. They will experience using a wider range of materials.

In Yr4 Summer and Yr6 Summer, pupils are encouraged to explore and celebrate their identity through artwork.

In Yr5 Spring, pupils have the opportunity to record a journey they have made, during which they explore the local area through the study of maps.

Our aim is to maintain a fun, enjoyable, balanced and rich Art curriculum that promotes independence, initiative and originality to develop creativity. Pupils reflect on, analyse and critically evaluate their own work and that of other pupils and creative practitioners as they develop an understanding of work that is uniquely meaningful to them.

Impact

The careful sequencing of the curriculum – and how concepts are gradually built over time – is the progression model. If pupils are keeping up with the curriculum, they are making progress. Formative assessment is prioritised and is focused on whether pupils are keeping up with the curriculum.

In general, this is done through:

Use of sketchbooks and pupil-conferencing

Unless it is unavoidable, pupils use the same sketchbook over multiple years, until it is complete. Sketchbooks contain a record of pupils’ progress over a significant period of time. Talking to pupils about their sketchbooks allows us to assess how much of the curriculum content is secure. These conversations are used to determine whether pupils have a good understanding of the vertical concepts (practical knowledge), and if they can link recently taught content to learning from previous units.

Formative assessment in lessons

There are opportunities for formative assessment in the lessons, and teachers continually adapt their lesson delivery to address misconceptions and ensure that pupils are keeping up with the content.

Low-stakes summative assessment

We also use low-stakes quizzes at the end of the unit to assess whether pupils have learned the core knowledge for that unit. These are also used formatively, and teachers plan to fill gaps and address misconceptions before moving on.

Enrichment

Overall, the art and design we offer to our children aims to instil a lifelong love of the art, an appreciation of how this high form of creativity touches every part of our lives and to equip them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to become (or at least appreciate) the artists of the future. To support this, we also offer a variety of enrichment activities: art clubs, projects and art in the local community.

We also further develop and celebrate art in whole school art days. Our collaborative work then forms wonderful displays around our school.

We also have our ‘Crazy Glue’ family art group which links local artists and authors to members of our community. This group has been working closely with local artist Simon James on projects which merge storytelling and the arts. They most recently created a social story online book about an area close to school. They are now taking part in a further project alongside the Max Literacy Award.

We have recently been awarded the Artsmark Gold award which has enabled us to showcase all the wonderful opportunities our children have to express themselves and get involved with art in all its forms.