Intent

 

At The Grange, we follow the National Curriculum to deliver Art and Design across the school. Our aim is to enable pupils to become creative and reflective learners who are able to express themselves fluently and confidently in a variety of different ways.

 

Art and Design provides a way of enabling a child to make mistakes, promoting children’s use of their problem-solving skills.  These skills are celebrated and allow for experimentation to discover something new, or to ignite their imagination.

 

At The Grange, we want our children to experience the use of materials, different media techniques, acquire knowledge and skills, by exploring the work of artists and art forms in different contexts. The children will study the works of a range of artists, and designers that are selected to give a broad and balanced view of Art and Design across different cultures, both past and present.

 

The teaching of Art and Design Technology involves teaching skills and concepts in an inclusive, inspiring, engaging and relevant way. The process of ‘making’ art is just as relevant as a finished piece. This allows scope for further opportunities developing the children’s understanding around reflecting on pieces of work, their methods when revisiting work and evaluating their work.

 

We provide opportunities for children to develop their Art skills through afterschool clubs and workshops across KS1 and KS2.

 

At The Grange we believe every child is an artist and needs:

 

• Observational skills

• Imagination and ability to learn

• The ability to express thoughts and feelings through visual arts

• Encourage every child to experiment

• To increase subject knowledge, skills and vocabulary

• To instil a passion and a way of developing an understanding of the world through art and design.

• To incite and make connections with the world around

• To analyse and critique their artwork and the work of others

 

To ensure pupils develop a secure knowledge that they can build on, our Art and Design curriculum is organised into a progression model that outlines the skills, knowledge and vocabulary to be taught in a sequentially coherent way. The content will be carefully organised by each year group through a long term plan. Content knowledge, vocabulary and skills will then be planned for at a greater level of detail in the medium-term plan.

 

All of the artwork that the children will create is linked to our whole school common theme and our the main topics in each Key Stage. The children will gain various skills by being exposed to different art media throughout the school e.g. printing, sculpture, painting, weaving, drawing and collage. The curriculum has been revised so that it is be fully inclusive of all of the changes in the new National Curriculum.

 

Meaningful links with other subjects are made to strengthen connections and understanding for pupils. Where appropriate, Art and Design projects may also be linked to community or cultural issues to engage our artists in the world around them and to help them understand the role that they play as an individual e.g. creating an image for our local recycling lorry.

 

 

Implementation

 

All learning will start with revisiting prior knowledge and making meaningful connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Consistent learning walls in every classroom provide constant scaffolding for children.

 

Our curriculum offers children frequent opportunities to develop their practical skills using a wide range of media at their own pace. We know that progression is not linear so all work is valued and recorded and not marked. However, to encourage children’s progress and creativity, we observe children while they work and capture moments where they evaluate effectively, use the language of art and design, collaborate well and make creative decisions.

 

In each unit of work the children draw and create using a range of media, whilst exploring the work of an artist, crafts person, or designer. We teach skills lessons and give the children opportunities to free draw in their sketchbooks, valuing their ideas and allowing them time to just enjoy drawing. These sketchbooks give our artists the opportunity to study an existing piece of art, create a constructive and reflective critique and develop their own artwork skills. Work in sketchbooks documents each child’s unique progress and learning journey that year.

 

Children are encouraged to move their learning forward by reflecting on their own work. Self-evaluation is taught throughout each unit and is supported by peer and teacher led critiques.

 

By revisiting different mediums and techniques throughout their school life, children will have the skills and confidence to express themselves and produce work they enjoy making and can be proud of.

 

 

Impact

 

At The Grange ‘pupil voice’ is used to ascertain the pupils’ ability to express themselves through a range of different mediums. Sketch book monitoring throughout all year groups also takes place to compliment this, allowing leaders to ensure our artists have the opportunity to develop their skills fully and showcase their talents. Examples of our artists’ work is exhibited throughout the school, both on classroom and communal displays.