Art & Design
“Creativity takes courage.”
Henri Matisse, French visual artist
Intent:
At Bedfont Primary School, we believe that all pupils can achieve in Art and Design; that high-quality Art lessons will inspire children to become well-rounded individuals that think innovatively and develop creative procedural understanding. Our Art curriculum provides children with opportunities to develop their skills using a range of media and materials. Children learn about the fundamental elements of Art such as: drawing, painting and printmaking. Children are given the opportunity to explore and evaluate different creative ideas. They are introduced to a range of work by great artists and develop their own voice when share their thoughts and opinions on the work. Children are able to build on their skills as they progress through the school. The skills they acquire in Art and Design are applied to their cross-curricular topics, allowing children to use their art skills to reflect on and explore topics in greater depth.
Implementation:
At Bedfont Primary School, the teaching of Art and Design across the school follows the National Curriculum and it is supported by the Kapow Scheme. These four strands run throughout:
- Generating ideas
- Using sketchbooks
- Making skills, including formal elements (line, shape, tone, texture, pattern, colour)
- Knowledge of artists
- Evaluating and analysing
Children at Bedfont are exposed to four core areas:
- Drawing
- Painting and mixed media
- Sculpture and 3D
- Craft and design
Over the year course of the academic year, Years 1-6 will complete three units from the core areas and Reception will complete four units. These will be taught on a half termly basis alongside DT. Units of lessons are sequential and support age appropriate learning. The formal elements, a key part of the national curriculum, are woven throughout the units. Lessons are practical and allow pupils to explore and experiment. They develop knowledge of significant artists, craftspeople and designers. They increase their 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. Sketchbooks are used to record their ideas, evaluate and practice skills. The unit of lessons allow children to build on their knowledge and skills, applying them to a range of outcomes. These skills are regularly revisited with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This ensures that the pupils at Bedfont Primary are meeting the attainment targets by the end of each key stage.
All children will be taught the objectives set out in the progression map document. Differentiated tasks are available, or can be made / adapted, for pupils that are unable to access the objectives or to challenge those that are working at greater depth. Knowledge organizers are provided for each unit and assessment questionnaires for Years 1-6.
Pupils are also given opportunities to take part in school art and photo competitions. At the end of every term, all children contribute towards our art theme displays which provide wonderful opportunities to bring the whole school together. Pupils are also encouraged to upload creative work to our school virtual gallery on Padlet: https://padlet.com/bedfontprimary/thearts