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Art & Design

Intent

“Art and design stimulates creativity and imagination. It provides visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world.”    

At Ashfield Junior School, we want our children to love art, craft and design! We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and to grow up wanting to be illustrators, graphic designers, fashion designers, curators, architects or printmakers. Our Art curriculum is designed to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, whilst equipping them with the knowledge and skills to be able to experiment, invent and create their own works of art. As pupils progress, they should gain a deeper understanding of how Art and Design reflects and shapes our history, and how it contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of our world. We want to equip our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the Art and Design National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. We want our children to use the local area as inspiration, to learn from other cultures and to respect diversity. To that end, we have carefully selected a wide range of unique and diverse artists, craft makers and designers for children to study.

Implementation

At Ashfield, Art and Design is taught as a discreet subject and lessons are planned with a clear progression across each year group. Key skills and knowledge have been broken down and allocated across different year groups to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum.  Our Art and Design curriculum builds on what children have learnt at our local infant feeder school.  It has been carefully planned to ensure that children have a sound knowledge of a variety of artists, and so that they can build upon their skills in order to nurture their creative thinking through experimenting, inventing and creating their own work of art. Each year group will have three units of work where they will have opportunities for drawing and experimenting in sketchbooks, exploring surfaces and colour, as well as working with three dimensions and sculpture.

There is a clear progression of learning in each year group.  Children in Year 3 will begin the year by learning to create gestural drawings and explore mark making through charcoal before learning about sculpture that is inspired by literature. In Year 4, children will develop their skills further by exploring how to tell stories through their artwork. Later they will go on to delve into the genre of still life, where they will look carefully at both contemporary and traditional styles of work to produce their own pieces. Learning in Year 5 is linked to Geography, where they look at typography and maps. They will then learn the monotype printing process and create a small zine filled with their artwork. Year 6 children learn about identity and look at how artists create a sense of self by creating layers and using colour. Each unit of work links to other subjects within our curriculum, and each year group will also learn about different artists that link to their genre of work. Here they will investigate the artists techniques and ideas, and understand how they have contributed to our history and culture.

Our Art and Design lessons will include:

  • A progression of art and design skills and knowledge
  • A clear sequence of learning for each unit
  • Specific Art and Design vocabulary for units of work and year group
  • Exposure to a range of artists
  • Develop artistic skills
  • Provide opportunities to reflect and build on prior learning
  • Make links with other subjects in the curriculum
  • Differentiated activities or support for children with SEND

Impact

  • Children talk passionately about their learning in Art and talk enthusiastically sharing their knowledge and understanding
  • Children demonstrate new knowledge and apply new skills in lessons
  • Children use and apply a range of art technical vocabulary
  • Children will use art vocabulary to discuss other artists’ work
  • Children talk and produce work that demonstrates their understanding of art
  • Children will develop their skills to produce artwork in the style of a range of artists
  • Children analyse and critically evaluate their own artwork and that of others

Our children will be successful and engaged in lessons because:

  • Teachers use assessment for learning in lessons to support all learners
  • Teachers build on a progression of skills and knowledge from the previous year
  • Teachers make links and connections with prior learning in Art and in other curriculum subjects
  • Teachers scaffold activities, model art vocabulary and follow a sequence of learning so that all children can make progress
  • Teachers expose children to a range of art and artists across KS2