Art

Vision

At The Upper Wharfedale Primary Federation, we value art as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. art provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opportunity to express their individual interests, thought and ideas.

“Creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”

― Sir Ken Robinson

A high-quality art 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. They should also know how art both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation.

The aims of teaching art in our schools are:

  • To 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 through school, they should begin to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art. They should also know how art both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation
  • To produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
  • To become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
  • To produce a product in response to a design brief
  • To evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
  • To know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Implementation
The skills and knowledge that children will develop throughout each art topic are carefully mapped.  The emphasis on knowledge ensures that children understand the context of the artwork, as well as the artists that they are learning about and being inspired by.  A progressive approach to the development of artistic skills means that children are given opportunities to express their creativity, as well as practise and develop mastery in the key processes of art: drawing, painting, printing, textiles, and sculpture.

Units start with a recap of the previous related knowledge from previous years.  This helps children to retrieve what they have learnt in the earlier sequence of the programme of study and ensures that new knowledge is taught in the context of previous learning to promote a shift in long term memory.  Key vocabulary for the new topic is also introduced.

The children are asked what they already know specifically about the new topic.  This provides the teacher with an insight into the children’s ‘starting points’ for the topic, to enable the use of assessment to inform planning. Teachers support the children and scaffold as appropriate, according to the children’s age group as well as individual needs.

The school’s high-quality art curriculum is supported through the availability of quality resources, which are used to support children’s confidence in the use of different media.

Impact
The structure of the art curriculum ensures that children can develop their knowledge and understanding of the work of artists, craftspeople and designers from a range of times and cultures and apply this knowledge to their own work.  The consistent use of children’s sketchbooks means that children are able to review, modify and develop their initial ideas in order to achieve high quality outcomes.  Children learn to understand and apply the key principles of art: line, tone, texture, shape, form, space, pattern, colour, contrast, composition, proportion and perspective.  The opportunity for children to refine and develop their techniques over time is supported by effective lesson sequencing and progression between year groups.

Subject Overview

Art Overview October 23

 

Progression

ART PROGRESSION October 23