Art and Design

Intent

At St. Joseph’s, we aim to show that art is a fundamental aspect of all children’s education, and it plays a valuable and significant part in the curriculum. We want to provide a high-quality Art and Design education that engages, inspires and challenges our children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, discover and produce their own works of art, craft and design. It also enables the children to progress in such a way, that allows for the development of critical thinking and a rigorous understanding of art and design through the study of a diverse variety of artists. We also want to improve our children’s understanding of the visual language of art, through effective teaching that shows a clear learning journey throughout each topic.

Implementation

Our Art and Design curriculum is built around essential knowledge, understanding and key skills. These are broken into year group expectations and show clear continuity and progress. Teachers from Nursery to Year 6 plan each topic ensuring that a learning journey is evident. Staff carefully consider which skills need to be covered. The core curriculum for Art and Design aims to ensure that all our children produce creative work. This means our children exploring their ideas, recording their experiences. As they move through the school they become more proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and a range of other art, craft and design techniques. As artists they develop their ability to record, evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design. They develop their knowledge of great artists, craft makers and designers and are then able to understand the historical and cultural development of art forms.

In Early Years, the children explore and use a variety of media and materials through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. They have opportunities to explore textures, movement, feel and look of different media and materials. In Key Stage 1, our children are taught to use a range of materials creatively to design and make products; use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination; develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space. In Key Stage 2, our children use their sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas; they are taught to improve their mastery of Art and Design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials, for example, pencil, charcoal, paint and clay.

Impact

As in all other areas of the curriculum, assessment is an essential part of the evaluation process. Class teachers can show records of work carried out through the use of sketchbooks, examples of work and photographs. This shows off the children’s levels of achievement. Classroom displays reflect this process as well as mirror the children’s sense of pride in their artwork.  A variety of work across key stages will be celebrated and exhibited work will include contributions from children of all abilities. Our school environment also celebrates children’s achievements in art with sculptures, paintings etc. on display for the whole school community to observe and be inspired by. The Art curriculum at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School contributes to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection.