Art

Intent

​At Christchurch Infant School, we value Art and Design as an important part of every child’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum.  We believe Art enables children to explore their imagination, express their individual interests and develop their ability to express ideas and feelings in creative ways.  The Art curriculum aims to engage, inspire and challenge, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art by providing exciting topic-based opportunities for them to develop their creativity.  We encourage the children to become progressively proficient with a range of tools and materials so they can explore pattern, form, texture, colour and develop the skills and techniques they need to communicate their ideas effectively and successfully. Our children are able to enjoy art activities involving painting, drawing, collage, clay, modelling and textiles. We aim to foster enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts and develop knowledge of significant artists, craftspeople and designers, increase critical awareness of the roles and purposes of art and design in different times and cultures and analyse works using the language of art and design.

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in art and design, we implement a curriculum that is coherent and progressive throughout the whole school. Art and design is taught as part of a termly topic, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. We plan fun and exciting art opportunities, based upon our topics and the whole school Arts week is a highlight of the year. The art and design curriculum at Christchurch Infant School is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each Key Stage. Teachers plan lessons for their class using our progression of knowledge and skills document. Teachers can use this document to plan their art and design lessons suitable to their class’s interests and what they want to learn about. The progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills/knowledge taught is progressive from year group to year group.

When teaching art and design, teachers should follow the children’s interests to ensure their learning is engaging, broad and balanced. A variety of teaching approaches are used based on the teacher’s judgement. Children showing extensive aptitude in art and design will be celebrated in weekly celebration assemblies.  These children may also have their work displayed in the school’s art gallery.

At our school, we provide a variety of opportunities for art and design learning to take place inside and outside the classroom.

Alongside our curriculum provision for art and design, we also provide all pupils with the opportunity to participate in art-based school clubs and art and design FAB Friday activities.  Pupils are consulted in the Spring and Summer terms about which clubs they would like to be offered. 

The children are encouraged to learn individually and collaboratively with others, which allows them to develop their understanding of others. The children record from experience and imagination and are given a range of starting points for their art learning such as first-hand observations, music and poetry or using the work of artists, craftspeople and designers as inspiration. Through reflection we provide the children opportunities to evaluate their own and others learning and consider what has been successful and where improvements could be made.

During the Early Years, young children will be given the opportunity to explore colour, texture, shape and form in two and three dimensions. The children will have access to a wide range of constructions, collage, painting and drawing activities, using appropriate tools and art materials. In order to tap into their artistic potential, the children will be encouraged to develop their own creative ideas.

A clear scheme of study is used by Key Stage One taken from the National Curriculum 2014 and key objectives are documented in the school’s medium-term planning, which is monitored by the Art lead.

Impact

In line with our school policy on assessment and monitoring, it is expected that each teacher will be responsible for the regular assessments of their pupils.  Assessment for Learning strategies are continuously used during children’s learning, which directly informs future planning, teaching and learning.  Teacher assessment is based on a wide range of evidence, including questioning, talking and listening to children whilst engaged in their learning and observing children learning independently and collaboratively.  The subject lead will gather further information through talking to pupils; highlighting strengths and achievement and any improvements, knowledge and skills that still need to be embedded. 

Learning outcomes are used to identify the essential core knowledge which pupils should gain from their Art programme of study.  The idea is that pupils will deepen their knowledge and understanding of the key skills and the impact of teaching is assessed at the end of each unit.

The subject lead will collate images and videos of the children’s practical learning for the school’s website and displays.