Worthington Primary School Art and Design Curriculum Statement  

“Every child is an artist” – Pablo Picasso.

“Art is not what you see, but what you make other see.” – Edgar Degas

At Worthington, we recognise that Art and Design is diverse. In our curriculum the children learn about art and ethnically diverse artists across cultures and throughout history.

Curriculum Intent

At Worthington Primary School, we are committed to providing pupils with a high-quality Art curriculum, which develops creativity, sets challenges, engages and inspires children and equips them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As a school, we believe that Art is an essential part of every child’s education.

We see Art as an opportunity for creativity, individual expression, exploration and independence. It is important to the development of pupils’ well-being, appreciation of the world and understanding and empathy of others. We aim to give all children the confidence to express themselves through a range of chosen mediums. Our curriculum provides children with an opportunity to experience all art forms: drawing, painting and mixed media, sculpture and 3D and craft and design. Our pupils are encouraged to experiment with a range of different materials and techniques to bring their ideas to life. We provide ample opportunities to practise art and design techniques when using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space across the Art curriculum through the use of individual sketchbooks. Our children are able to make conscious and well-informed decisions, in relation to their work, and over time they develop improved self-awareness, and their decision-making skills become more informed and increasingly proficient.

We want our children to know how Art has contributed to our culture and understanding of our history and the world. Our curriculum provides children with opportunities to explore and examine prominent art styles and influential artists and their works, which is enhanced by working with an ‘Artist in Residence’ in Years One, Three and Four. Our children will focus on a variety of key artists and they will begin to understand the development of their particular art forms. Our children will have opportunities to take inspiration from these key artists and create their own artworks in their particular styles. They are able to partake in meaningful and progressive tasks that encourage them to develop and master individualised techniques and skills, allowing them ultimately, to become recognised artists in their own

Our Art curriculum has been designed to ensure that it instils curiosity and enables a more evaluative approach during creative exploration. We also expect children to be able to look at an image or a piece of art and to understand it, not just react to it. We equip them with the skills required to understand the language of art and design. This enables them to describe what they see in detail and to provide evidence for their observations.

Curriculum Implementation

Throughout their time at Worthington Primary School, our children are given a range of opportunities to explore a wide variety of materials and techniques, developing their skills and thinking as young artists, using the ‘Kapow Primary’ scheme to form the basis of our Art and Design curriculum (Reception to Year 6). Nursery use the Reception Kapow units to ensure they plan appropriate activities which will support the children’s learning in Reception. The activities are also in line with the Early Years Curriculum. The curriculum is progressive and allows the children to build on skills, knowledge and techniques year on year. Throughout each unit, the children build on previous understanding through five areas of content: making skills, generating ideas, formal elements, knowledge of artists and evaluating their work. Various media types are explored within each unit to give the widest possible range of experiences for all children. The materials and media used are revisited throughout units and year groups to ensure progression of skills previously developed. Children have access to key knowledge, language and meanings, through the use of knowledge organisers, in order to understand and readily apply new terminology to their work in Art and across the wider curriculum.

Within our curriculum, our children will be introduced to an eclectic and carefully selected range of diverse members of the art community, who have influenced and helped shape the creative world. This will increase understanding and encourage appreciation of the wider art community. Within each unit, the children will explore styles and techniques; make comparisons to similar and contrasting approaches; attempt to replicate whole or parts of significant works, and they will evaluate throughout. When the children leave Worthington, they will have been exposed to an inclusive and wide range of artists and their styles. Children will leave our school knowing how art and design reflects and contributes to the history and culture of an entire nation and the extended world.

Curriculum Impact

Through following a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum, it is expected that teaching and learning will show progression across all key stages within the strands of the Art curriculum. Subsequently, more children will achieve age related expectations in Art at the end of their cohort year and Key Stage. It is our aim that children will retain knowledge, vocabulary and skills taught within each unit of work. They will remember these and understand how to use and apply these in their own art work, whilst beginning to understand what being an ‘artist’ truly means. Teachers in EYFS plan meaningful activities which follow the Early Learning Goals and Development Matters in the EYFS guidance. In EYFS, Art is child-led and is based upon exploration. Staff observe that a child or group of children have shown a particular interest in a topic and then offer to help them enhance their chosen area of exploration by providing additional resources or demonstrating how to use existing resources. This is then assessed through a particular area or Early Learning goal, such as: Expressive Arts and design: Creating with materials.

At Worthington Primary School, we are able to measure the impact that Art and Design has had for all children by:

• Providing children with feedback as soon as possible.
• Marking the work in accordance to school’s marking policy.
• Images of the children’s practical learning.
• Determining the extent to which objectives are met within each lesson and overall, at the end of each unit.
• Portfolios for each strand of the curriculum, to evidence progression throughout school.
• Termly reporting of progress and attainment using INSIGHT.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Learning Walks and Work Scrutinies, where feedback is then given to staff and any additional support is provided.

By the time children leave Worthington Primary School, we want them to have developed a passion for Art and creativity, working both independently and collaboratively. They be confident and competent when using a range of tools and techniques. Our children will have become artists that can apply the skills and knowledge that they have developed throughout their years at Worthington, and respond critically to their own and other’s work.