The Intent

‘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. 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.’

National Curriculum for Art and Design 2013

 

At SHH federation we value Art and Design as an integral part of a broad and balanced curriculum diet for our pupils. We believe that art offers children the opportunities to express and develop their creativity, individuality, imagination as well as their critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the subject. In doing this we strive to allow our children to experience the wealth of creativity and culture both past and present both in their everyday lives and by learning about significant movements and people in the world of art.  Art and Design also provides excellent opportunities for pupils to appreciate the rich diversity around them, learn about other cultures, and celebrate and be sensitive towards these differences.

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The Implementation

We have designed an Art and Design curriculum that is engaging, inspiring and inclusive to every child. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for Art and Design; providing a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum that ensures a progressive development and understanding of skills. Through our teaching of Art skills, and the application of these to create pieces of art, we aim to instil in our children a love and appreciation of Art now and well beyond their primary years.

Our pupils explore these art elements through a wide range of media as we teach the technical skills:

• Drawing

• Painting

• Collage

• Sculpture

• Textiles

• Printing

• Photography and digital art

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All units of work are planned so they match our topics and teachers adapt and personalise the units to ensure coverage and progression of technical skills as well as good cross-curricular links such as Egyptian death masks in year 4 and colour blended wheat as part of looking at Anglo Saxons in year 6. Children have the opportunities to use different mediums in art as well as continuing to develop the base skills of drawing such as watercolour dragons in year 2 to clay vase designs in year 5.

 

In Early Years Foundation Stage, a wide variety of adult-led activities and provision for child-initiated experiences are planned for and set out on a daily basis.  Activities are a combination of specific topic related activities, and resources provided for independent exploration and discovery. 

 

Over the years, we have had a number of professional artists coming in to work with the children such as from Bow Arts, to develop and extend their skills.  Our pupils also visit art galleries around London to appreciate the work of other artists and to understand how the techniques they are learning are used in famous works of art.  

 

The Impact

At Stewart Headlam and Hague schools, we want our pupil’s art and design journey through the school to be positive, confidence building and successful. We want our children to enjoy art and to be able to talk about artwork and artists with confidence and to be able to be reflective about their own and others work.

 

Children in Foundation Stage are assessed within Expressive Arts and Design and their progress is tracked termly using the Early Excellence tracker system. Age related expectation levels are reported to parents at the end of the reception year.

 

Children in year 1-6 use self and peer assessments to celebrate their achievements and gather ideas on how to improve on their artwork.