Curriculum - Art & Design
Art and Design Intent
At St Stephen’s CE Primary School, we value Art and Design as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum where they are able to let their light shine through their God given gifts. Art and Design provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual creativity.
Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design concepts. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.
Art and Design Implementation
The teaching and implementation of the Art and Design Curriculum at St Stephen’s is based on the National Curriculum and supported with lessons from the Kapow programme of study. The children are taught Art and Design each term and where possible providing cross-curricular links with another subject e.g. in Year 3 the children explore Ancient Egypt within their history topic so their craft and design unit is taught within the summer term to link. Within art, the children cover a wide range of skills within each of the key areas; sculpture and 3D, painting and mixed media, craft and design and drawing. By only focusing on the four areas, it will allow for progression of skills within each year group. In addition, the children explore the work of variety of artists from famous, well known artists such as Picasso, to the less known such as Rachel Whiteread within their lessons. Within Early Years, children begin their Art and Design journey by developing their skills linked to a range of topics and interests throughout the year.
The children’s learning is further enhanced with a whole school projects such as the Queen’s Jubilee portraits. Children will also hear and learn about a breadth of famous artists throughout the year in whole school assemblies and also artists from the local area within our aspirations week. Workshops will also be provided for groups of children such as the more able to continue to foster a love for the subject.
Art and Design Impact
Due to the nature of this curriculum area, each piece of work will not be individually marked within their art books. This is their book/portfolio to develop and record their ideas and it will move through the school with them to show how they have progressed and give them a sense of achievement both as a learner and artist.
At the end of each unit of work, teachers will assess the unit using their art book and final piece as to whether the child is working towards, at expected or exceeding expectations. Children’s achievements will also be celebrated with displays around school and in the classrooms as well as our Art Blog on the website.
