Art
‘Art and Design is not just a subject to learn, but an activity that you can practise: with your hands, your eyes and your whole personality.’
— Quentin Blake, Children’s Laureate
Intent
At Stanley Primary School, we value Art and Design as an important and fundamental part of our children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Our mission is to engage, inspire and challenge our children, and equip them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
We believe that Art is an inclusive subject that promotes creativity and curiosity for all children. It is a subject that should be stimulating and enjoyable for all, allowing expression through a piece of artwork, whether it be individual or collaborative. We want to develop our children’s confidence and allow them to have freedom to experiment and maximise opportunities to show off their personality in their individual sketchbooks, allowing ownership of their work. Our children have a safe space to express themselves and show their individual personality. Sketchbooks are key and allow our pupils to practise key skills, evaluate, analyse and re-visit past works and learn to build resilience by making and learning from their mistakes. Over time, they will become more confident in making creative decisions and will have a learning journey to be proud of in their sketchbooks.
Ultimately, our intention for Art is that when children leave Stanley Primary School, they have a passion for the subject, a basic set of skills in drawing and painting, sculpture, print-making and ICT. We also want them to have an appreciation of work by a range of artists and a curious nature meaning that they are capable of producing a piece of creative artwork which they and others can be proud of.
Implementation
Right from the beginning In Reception, children are encouraged to explore and use a range of materials and media through a combination of child-initiated and adult led activities and experiences. The children are encouraged to use their imagination to develop their own ideas and produce their own individual pieces of artwork, both indoor and outdoor – the messier the better! We encourage the children to explore different textures and to develop their understanding of manipulation to get a material to do what they want. The children are invited to investigate basic colour and its use for a particular purpose. Throughout Reception, the children are given lots of opportunities to develop their skills and prepare them for their artistic journey throughout their school journey.
As a school we follow the Access Art Scheme. Key stage 1 and 2 follow the Access Art Pathway split curriculum and will complete three pathways over the year. This is a holistic curriculum that nurtures creative thinking skills and helps ensure pupils learn through art as well as about art. Through its flexible approach, the Pathway has an emphasis on taking teaching and learning on a journey, which empowers teachers and pupils to become confident creative decision makers. By creating opportunities for pupils to explore different art forms and artists, practice skills and develop techniques and create individual pieces of art, pupils will learn a wide range of skills, develop understanding and show clear progression.
Learning is built through weaving and layering and revisiting experiences and children are given lots of opportunities and experiences (media, techniques, artists and approaches) and these are all underpinned by the creative use of the sketchbook. To support teaching and learning, children are presented with a number of “talking points” resources which introduce children to a wide variety of artists, designers and craftspeople from across the world. Children are exposed to a range of artists including contemporary artists and more traditional artists.
Stanley Primary School openly promotes art and design as a possible further study or career choice. Encouraging each child to evaluate their art and design work and that of others, both with peers and adults. Celebrating effort, progress and achievement in art through displays, exhibitions and enrichment activities, including trips out and competitions.
Impact
Each child will develop their skills and techniques in a way appropriate to them, through clear differentiation and support, active and purposeful experiences, and using a variety of art materials and teaching strategies. Children will build confidence utilising a sketchbook approach, so that children feel safe to experiment and take risks with a clear understanding that there is no right and wrong. Children will be more likely to choose to study art throughout their school careers and possibly consider art and design as a career choice in the future.
Pupils are given time and space to respond and explore to the repeated rhythm of the approach. The Pathway provides time to balance repeated practices with new experiences. Pupils have opportunities for quiet approaches as well as active and dynamic activities and time to work alone as well as time to work collaboratively. This allows pupils to spend time developing and exploring their own likes and dislikes and establish their own style. Pupils become familiar with a variety of artists which broadens their cultural capital whilst igniting their own creative side. Each pupil will be the proud owner of their own sketchbooks which reflects their personality, artistic style and reflects the journey they have been on and the skills they have developed. The Pathway supports the development of confident artists who are able to reflect on their own work in a positive way and see themselves as artists.
Our wish is for pupils to have learned, improved and embedded a range of artistic skills. They should have an awareness of a broad range of artists and craftspeople, and be able to consider and discuss the artworks they come across. We want our pupils to be confident to explore, experiment and take risks, placing value on the process and journey that they take, not just on the finished product. Most importantly, we want children to have found and enjoyed a creative outlet – a means of self-expression and enjoyment.
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